Johannes Leiacker

German designer Johannes Leiacker made his Royal Opera debut in 2009, creating set and costume designs for the Olivier award-winning production of Tristan und Isolde, directed by Christof Loy. He first trained as a carpenter and then studied painting, sculpture, graphic design and set design in Wiesbaden. He has worked for the Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paris Opera, La Monnaie, Brussels, Teatro Real, Madrid, Bolshoi Theatre, Dutch National Opera, Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera. Collaborators include Peter Konwitschny (Attila, Jenůfa, La traviata, The Flying Dutchman, Parsifal, Les Huguenots, La Juive, La bohème, Don Carlos and Tristan und Isolde) and Christof Loy (Le nozze di Figaro, Tannhäuser, Euryanthe, Das Wunder der Heliane, Don Giovanni and Ariodante).

Leiacker has also worked with directors including Rolando Villazón, Philipp Himmelmann, Dietrich Hilsdorf and Brigitte Fassbaender. Leiacker was a lecturer at the Dresden College of Fine Arts until 2010, and has been named Set Designer of the Year by Opernwelt magazine three times (1996, 2009 and 2018).