Christopher
Widauer

Born in 1961, Christopher Widauer studies and works in the Department of Philosophy at Salzburg University. He began his career in arts management, collaborating with musicians such as Thomas Zehetmair, Friedrich Gulda, and Claudio Arrau. From 1987 to 1991, he acted as the director of the Styriarte Festival in Graz under the artistic direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Widauer developed a ticketing software that is used in leading venues, including the Konzerthaus Vienna, Salzburg Festival, and Elbphilharmonie. In 1989, he founded a puppet theatre dedicated to contemporary music and literature, commissioning and premiering works by renowned authors and composers with orchestras and ensembles throughout Europe. Notably, he also organised 24 concerts with the Vienna Symphony in the main hall of the Konzerthaus Vienna.

From 2010 to 2013, Widauer was the Head of the Theatre Department for the City of Vienna’s Councillor for Culture. As the Head of Digital Development at the Vienna State Opera from 2013 to 2020, he transformed the organisation into an independent producer and distributor of premium digital content. His endeavours included installation of 2,100 tablets for interactive infotainment and seatback subtitling, as well as the digitalisation of scores in collaboration with the French startup NEWZIK. He consulted leading institutions in digital transformation efforts, including La Scala, ROC Berlin, and the New Cairo Opera House.

He designed and built the immersive MYTHOS MOZART experience as its artistic director. Since 2023, Widauer has been developing YOUNISON, a disruptive network and platform for recruiting in classical music. He regularly teaches at universities and contributes to conferences internationally.