Performing Arts Jury

Janine Bürkli studied socioculture, dramaturgy and theater and orchestra management in Lucerne and Frankfurt am Main. She has worked as a project manager for the Tankstelle Bühne, a platform for young talent in Central Switzerland. She has also worked for the SuperVista Luzern, the Kleintheater, the Südpol Luzern, and various performance festivals in Germany and Switzerland, including Implantieren 2020 in Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Offenbach. During the 2017/18 season, she served as interim co-director of dance and theatre at Südpol Lucerne, oversaw networking at the Neubad interim venue, and filled the maternity leave position of co-director at Gessnerallee Zurich in 2022. She was a scholarship holder at the Academy for Performing Arts Producer in 2022 and at the International Forum Theatertreffen Berlin in 2023. She has been co-director of the Kleintheater Luzern since 2023.

My name is Katharina Huber. Following on from a career as an aerial artist, I’ve been working at the talent agency Paulsen & Consorten since 2022. My main responsibility is booking our exclusive artists. But I’ve also had the chance to see countless shows as the evening director at the Pfefferberg Theater. And, of course, I also have a personal interest in all kinds of performing arts, shows and performances. I value creative concepts and diversity, which make every show unique. My own stage experience means that I understand both the artist and client perspective, which helps me keep everyone involved in a performance happy. I love cycling in my spare time, so I often set off on weekend adventures on my bike. I also enjoy reading.

Tommy Seitzinger has been running his talent agency Seitzinger Kultur since 2004 and opened the Hoftheater in Baienfurt with cabaret artist Uli Boettcher in 2011. His responsibilities at the theatre include planning the programme. The Hoftheater Baienfurt at the heart of Upper Swabia puts on around 160 cabaret shows a year. He has been organising and running the annual Hofkulturbörse at the theatre in Baienfurt since 2017, providing an important platform for artists. He is a creative networker on the cultural scene and is known for putting his heart and soul into every single one of his projects.

Stefan Schönfeld is a producer, consultant and curator in the field of contemporary circus. He is a co-founder of the ATOLL Festival in Karlsruhe and a member of the festival management team. As artistic director for the MOMENTLABOR performing arts group in Freiburg, the productions he is responsible for include hyrrä, Train, hyrrätytö and hyrrä paratiisi. He provides advice and guidance on contemporary circus productions as an external consultant. He is also curator of the NO ELEPHANTS festival in Freiburg, active within the European CIRCOSTRADA network for the Tollhaus cultural centre in Karlsruhe and a board member of ZIRKUS ON, the creative alliance for circus arts in and from Germany.