Karajan Music Tech 2018

Aleksey Igudesman is internationally known as a violinist, composer, conductor, actor and filmmaker. His numerous compositions are published by Universal Edition and are performed worldwide by soloists, ensembles and orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, often with Igudesman himself as solo violinist and conductor. Igudesman has written for and performed as a soloist on numerous movie soundtracks and has worked with Academy Award winning film composer Hans Zimmer on movies such as “Sherlock Holmes” which was nominated for an Oscar for best original score. In 2012, Igudesman. directed, produced and starred in the feature length mockumentary “Noseland”, featuring John Malkovich, Sir Roger Moore and Julian Rachlin. In recent years he was also directing other productions together with Hyung-ki Joo like ‘Breaking Beethoven’ or ‘Breaking Rachmaninoff’ staring artists like Billy Joel, John Malkovich or Yuja Wang.

Dr. Matthias Röder is renowned as a music and technology strategist, holding a board member role at the Karajan Foundation, and being Managing Director at the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute. Additionally, he contributes as a board of trustees member for the Mozarteum Foundation. As a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The Mindshift, he focuses on consultancy in creative leadership and innovation management. In 2017, he initiated the Karajan Music Tech Conference, an event dedicated to advancing cutting-edge technologies in the realms of music, media, and audio. Earlier, in 2013, he started the Classical Music Hack Day series. Alongside his wife, Seda Röder, he co-established the Sonophilia Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering creativity, critical thinking, and their positive impacts on innovation, social well-being, and personal fulfillment. His work has earned him numerous awards, including the “Game Changer” Award from the Chamber of Commerce Salzburg. A respected speaker and educator, Dr. Röder has taught at institutions like Harvard University, the Change & Innovation Management Program at the University of St. Gall, and Salzburg University. He holds a PhD in music from Harvard University and is an alumnus of the Mozarteum University Salzburg.

Seda Röder, aka “the piano hacker”, is an author, entrepreneur and philanthropist devoted to cultivating creativity in society and organisations. She is a sought-after speaker, consultant to DAX listed companies and the founder of the Sonophilia Foundation; a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the scientific research of creativity and critical thinking. Seda is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at The Mindshift, a consultancy on creative technologies and leadership. Furthermore, Seda is a fellow and a member of the Salzburg Global Seminar Corporate Governance Forum, angel investor and network partner at the European startup accelerator Silicon Castles. In 2018 Seda received the Game Changer Award at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce for her business merits. Before relocating to Europe, Seda taught music performance, theory and history at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an Associate and Affiliated Artist.

Sven Sören Beyer is founder and artistic director of the Berlin based artist collective phase7 performing.arts. In terms of staging, he focuses on combining media and high-tech with dance, language and music. He works as a director and choreographer as well as a media and video artist. In 2020 he started working on the AI opera chasing waterfalls as producer and director of the piece, which premiered in 2022 at Semperoper Dresden and Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival. Beyers cross-media aesthetics, his fascination for high-end technical developments and his mesmerizing combination of performing arts and media art lead him and phase7 across the globe.

Kathleen Alder, born in Hamburg and raised in a very musical household, established the creative agency WildKat at the age of 24 in 2008. With initial offices in London and Berlin, it's expanding to LA, New York, Paris, and soon Hong Kong, after receiving significant funding from Edition Capital. WildKat offers a range of services including PR, marketing, and branding for clients like Bamberg Symphony and the Korean Embassy's Cultural Institute.
In 2015, Kathleen launched the Noted fellowship to support emerging arts administrators, and in 2018, joined the Voice Foundation as a Trustee, contributing to its 25th anniversary and fundraising campaigns. She's recognized in PR Weeks’ 29 under 29 and was a Women of the Future Award nominee. Fluent in English, German, French, and Spanish, Kathleen started PostKultur in 2020, delivering curated cultural experiences in boxes, supporting artists and projects.

Frank Gerdes has been a part of ServusTV's cultural department in Austria since July 2009, taking on the role of Head of the department in 2010. Operating from Salzburg, he plays a key role in developing and producing television programs for the channel. This includes a range of award-winning documentaries like "Traces to Nowhere – The Conductor Carlos Kleiber" (2010) and "Karajan – The Second Life" (2012). Before joining ServusTV, Gerdes was engaged in project development at EuroArts Music International. There, he was involved in the creation and production of various cultural TV programs, including performance projects and documentaries, as well as major international projects such as "24 hours Mozart" and "24 hours Bach".