“MAKING FEMALE TALENT VISIBLE.
INSPIRING CONVERSATIONS WITH...” COLLOQUIUM
Join the Celebration of Female Talent at the AMADEUS Festival Vienna.
Be part of the “Making Female Talent Visible. Inspiring Conversations with...” Colloquium, where we celebrate and uplift the achievements and voices of women in culture, art, and education. Engage in an inspiring dialogue with distinguished female leaders as they share their personal experiences, challenges, and victories in shaping their industries and inspiring future generations.
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Elisabeth Freismuth (Dr. iur.) is a distinguished leader in higher education, the performing arts, and government affairs. She served as Rector of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz from 2014 to 2018 and held key leadership positions at the Federal Ministry of Science and Research, where she was Director General, overseeing critical areas such as science communication, international higher education law, and gender and diversity management.
With a career spanning academia and public service, Dr. Freismuth was Provost at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna for nearly two decades and lectured at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar. She has represented Austria at the European level, notably as a member of the European Women Rectors Association and as President of the Policy Committee on International Affairs at Universities Austria.
Beyond her professional roles, she has been actively involved in the cultural sector, serving as Chairwoman of the Supervisory Boards of Vereinigte Bühnen Wien and Bühnen Graz, and as a long-standing trustee of the Arnold Schönberg Center. Her civic engagements include co-founding the Forum Universität und Gesellschaft and leading the Friends of the Vienna Film Academy.
Dr. Freismuth’s contributions have been recognised with numerous honours, including the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art and the Grand Golden Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. She holds a doctorate in law from the University of Vienna and speaks German, English, and Italian fluently.
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Christina Anderle, born in 1990, is a distinguished art historian and provenance researcher. She embarked on her academic journey with a degree in Fashion and Design Management in Scotland. She then pursued a History of Art degree at the University of Vienna and the Sorbonne in Paris, specialising in contemporary art from the MENA region, which led her to explore Tunisia's contemporary art scene for her thesis.
Christina’s professional career began at Sotheby’s, where she served as a provenance researcher and assistant to the managing director, Mrs. Andrea Jungmann, across Austria, Hungary, and Poland. As expert liaison, she collaborated with international experts on Impressionism, Classical Modernism, and 19th-century art, as well as with Restitution departments in New York and London. She notably contributed to the restitution of significant works, including those by Egon Schiele.
In 2022, Christina transitioned to the Leopold Private Collection, managed by Leopold Fine Arts, where she has focused on provenance research and curating exhibitions. She also co-founded the brand Lpld with Rudolf Leopold's grandchildren, offering high-quality limited-edition prints from the collection. Recently, Christina has also merged her personal passion for yoga with her professional expertise by designing an activewear clothing line featuring patterns for Lpld, inspired by Egon Schiele. Her vision is to engage a younger, diverse audience with Austrian art.
Since December 2024, Christina’s focus has shifted to balancing her career with the demands of motherhood in an industry that defies the conventional 9-to-5 workday.
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Marie-Ève Lafontaine (*1990, USA) is a Canadian/American writer and curator based in Austria. As the artistic director of the Dr. Eva Kahan Foundation, she works between Budapest, Vienna and Tuscany for the promotion of Central and Eastern European contemporary art.
She is a member of the American Board of Secession Museum in Vienna, Phileas, the Austrian Office for Contemporary Art, the Strabag Art Collection acquisitions committee, and the Albertina Modern Circle.
She was most recently the managing director of the Canadian organisation Arsenal Contemporary in New York City, curator at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin, chief curator at the TRAFO Centre for Contemporary Art in Poland, and a collections researcher under Stephen Brown at the Jewish Museum in New York.
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Raised in Mheer, Zuid-Limburg, Lotte de Beer studied singing and piano before pursuing acting at Toneelschool Maastricht and later directing at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, graduating in 2009. That same year, she won the Ton Lutz Award for greatest directing talent for her production of Hauptling Abendwind / Vent du Soir. Her mentors include Peter Konwitschny and Pierre Audi. In 2010, de Beer founded Operafront, an Amsterdam-based company specialising in small-scale, experimental opera, where she served as the company's first artistic director. She has directed premieres of contemporary operas such as Waiting for Miss Monroe and The New Prince for the Dutch National Opera.
Internationally, she has directed Puccini's Il Trittico for the Bavarian State Opera and productions at the Bregenz Festival, Theatre an der Wien, Aalto-Musiktheater, Münchener Biennale, and Oper Leipzig. In 2020, she was appointed the first female artistic director of the Vienna Volksoper, starting in September 2022. Her contract was extended in 2024 through 2032.
In 2015, de Beer won the Newcomer category at the International Opera Awards in London.
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Italian violinist Lucilla Rose Mariotti Banwell, born in 2001, is a renowned soloist praised for her captivating presence and rich, warm tone which resonates with depth and emotion.
With enviable technical mastery, her playing blends profound musicality with striking technical precision.
Most recently, she had the honour of performing for Their Majesties, King Charles III and The Queen Consort, at Highgrove House and Gardens during an event organized by the Italian Embassy in the UK.
In 2024, she toured Australia with Vivaldi Gala Night – Journey to Italy performing as a soloist at Winthrop Hall in Perth, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, and the Sydney Opera House.
She is a recent First Prize Winner & Audience Award Recipient of the Violins & Soul Salon Music Violin Competition at the 2023 AMADEUS Festival in Vienna, where she was awarded a 1709 Antonio Stradivari violin from the Goh Family Collection on a two-year loan. Additionally, she received the Daniele Gay Award, established by violinist Francesca Dego in collaboration with Musica con le Ali Association and supported by Musica al Tempio Association.
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Dana Goh (b.2001) is a Singaporean multidisciplinary artist and curator based in London. A graduate of the Royal College of Art (2024), Goh has exhibited internationally in cities including London, New York, Vienna, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Liverpool, Shanghai, Singapore, and Seoul.
She is a finalist for the VAO UK & International Emerging Artist Award 2024 (Young Artist), a selected artist for the Emerging Woman Artist Award Art Prize (2024) and longlisted for Aesthetica Art Prize (2025). Alongside her art practice, she is also the founder of Qloud Collective.