Michiel Dijkema

Dutch stage director and set designer Michiel Dijkema is acclaimed for his dynamic interpretations and innovative designs in opera. He trained as a classical pianist at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and the Utrecht School of Arts under Danièle Dechenne, Alexander Warenberg, and Alwin Bär. He later pursued opera stage direction at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin, where he also deepened his expertise in song interpretation under Thom Bollen and Wolfram Rieger.

Dijkema has directed and designed numerous acclaimed productions across Europe, including Pelléas et Mélisande (Dutch National Touring Opera), Carmen (Eisenach, Meiningen), Orfeo ed Euridice (Dutch National Touring Opera), L’Orfeo (Stockholm), Pierrot Lunaire (Rotterdam), Die Fledermaus (Eisenach, Moscow, Tallinn), Der Vampyr (Amsterdam), Il Turco in Italia (Leipzig), Die Zauberflöte (Gelsenkirchen), La Cenerentola (Tallinn, Dutch National Touring Opera), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Wiesbaden, Antibes), Tosca (Leipzig), Hamlet (Zagreb), L’Opera Seria (Hannover), and The Bartered Bride (Wiesbaden), among many others.

Dijkema’s artistic achievements have been recognized with several international awards, including the European Opera-directing Prize, the Peter-Konwitschny Nachwuchsregiepreis for Carmen, and the Estonian Teatrikunsti Muusikalavastuste Award for La Cenerentola. His set design for Il Barbiere di Siviglia earned the Berlin Wizard-Award. In 2022, his production of Der fliegende Holländer at the WAGNER22 festival in Leipzig was nominated for the International Opera Awards, and his Lohengrin for the Estonian National Opera received a 2024 Estonian Music Prize nomination.

An educator and mentor, Dijkema has collaborated with the ArtEZ Academy of Music opera class, the Dutch National Opera Academy, and taught at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, and contributed to a multidisciplinary program at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn.