News
Every year, young artists and cultural professionals from various countries come to Bayreuth for the Stipendiatenwoche. They attend operas, get to know the Festspielhaus, explore the city of Bayreuth and meet scholarship holders from other countries and disciplines. For many, this is where artistic connections and friendships are formed that continue to have a lasting impact. However, there was no established international structure in place to maintain these connections after the event.
Bayreuth Fellows is set to change all that. The new association — essentially an international community — forges lasting links between past and future scholarship holders, with Bayreuth and with the global network of the Richard-Wagner-Verband International. At the same time, it provides its members with targeted support for their further professional development.
A new connection within the RWVI
The establishment of Bayreuth Fellows puts into practice 'Future Proof 2025–2029', RWVI's strategy document adopted by the Delegates' Assembly in Amsterdam.
On 27 August 2026, seven founders in Bayreuth unanimously adopted the constitution and elected the first board.
The 128 affiliated local societies retain their central role in this process. They identify talents in their own countries and regions and nominate candidates to the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation. Bayreuth Fellows builds on this by keeping scholarship holders connected with one another and with the international network even after their stay in Bayreuth.
Various disciplines
Bayreuth Fellows is a diverse community of artists and cultural professionals from a wide range of artistic, technical, scientific and support disciplines. This diversity is in line with the concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk: each discipline makes an equal contribution to a greater artistic whole.
Richard Wagner and the shared experience in Bayreuth bring the members of Bayreuth Fellows together, but do not dictate the direction in which they develop. Drawing on the inspiration, ideas and contacts they have gained in Bayreuth, they are free to explore music, other artistic disciplines, academia and the wider cultural sphere. Wagner's work and legacy are placed within their artistic, cultural and historical context, with scope for both in-depth study and critical reflection, including on his anti-Semitic writings. Equality, respect and non-discrimination form the basis of the association.
Development and exchange
The programme is structured around artistic, professional and personal development. This includes deepening one's skills, interdisciplinary collaboration, career and repertoire planning, business knowledge, international visibility, mental resilience and mutual support. Equally important is the community itself: members are given the opportunity to connect with one another, exchange knowledge and experiences, and maintain active contact. Activities take place both in person and online.
In addition, work is underway on a public website and a secure digital members' portal. There, Fellows will be able to connect with other members, sign up for activities and showcase their performances and projects. A knowledge hub will offer accessible introductions to Wagner, Bayreuth and their wider cultural context, with references to academic sources. Bayreuth Fellows is already active on Instagram.
Membership and board
Membership is open to individuals who have been nominated by a local society affiliated with the RWVI and who have taken part in the Stipendiatenwoche organised by the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation.
The inaugural board comprises Harry Leutscher, Dorothea Herbert (soprano and scholarship holder representing the Richard Wagner Association of Venice, 2014), Ada Vermeer-Janse, Michael Schmidt and Jillian Murray. The president and treasurer of the RWVI hold the same positions within Bayreuth Fellows. This ensures that the link with the international Association is also firmly established at a governance level.
With Bayreuth Fellows, a one-off week in Bayreuth is given a lasting follow-up. The local societies open the door to the scholarship; the new association ensures that the international contacts, knowledge and experience are not lost afterwards.