Jonas Kaufmann Leaves Agency To Focus On Career As Festival Director

The superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann has announced he will be leaving his agency to focus on his career as a festival director. Kaufmann’s announcement suggests the tenor may be winding down his performing commitments.

What’s the buzz: After 20 years of collaboration, the tenor Jonas Kaufmann has announced he will be ceasing collaborations with the Zemsky/Green agency. Since September 2024, Kaufmann has been Festival Director of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl. Kaufmann’s announcement that he will no longer collaborate with his longtime agency suggests he may be winding down his performing career.

A few Leitmotifs: Many of Jonas Kaufmann’s years with the Zemsky/Green agency were spent with Bruce Zemsky as Kaufmann’s personal manager. In recent years, the respected agency changed considerably. In 2017, Bruce Zemsky died after a short illness, and in 2022, Alan Green dismissed his entire staff aside from his wife and daughter following a meeting during which staff voiced concerns.

Kaufmann’s tenure with the Tiroler Festspiele Erl has been a success, already leading to record ticket sales. Perhaps the tenor is ready to manage other peoples’ performance cancellations rather than continuing to deal with audiences’ disappointment when he himself is forced to withdraw. We wish him well, regardless.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.