John Neumeier, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1939, studied in his native city as well as in Chicago, Copenhagen and London. In 1963, John Cranko invited him to join the Stuttgart Ballet, where he advanced to soloist and continued his choreographic development. Appointed director of The Frankfurt Ballet in 1969, he soon caused a sensation with his new interpretations of such well-known ballets as Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker. From 1973 to 2024, he served as the artistic director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet, and from 1996, he also held the position of intendant. In 1978, John Neumeier founded the School of the Hamburg Ballet. Under his direction, the Hamburg Ballet soon received international recognition. In 2006, he established the John Neumeier Foundation. In 2011, he founded the Bundesjugendballett, of which he remains the artistic director.
As a choreographer, Mr Neumeier has continually focused on the preservation of ballet tradition, while giving his works a modern dramatic framework. His ballets range from new versions of full-length story ballets to musicals and symphonic ballets as well as choreographies to sacred music. His latest creations for the Hamburg Ballet are Beethoven Project II, Hamlet 21, The Sleeping Beauty in 2021, Dona Nobis Pacem in 2022 and Epilogue in 2024. In addition to his 51 years in total as director of Hamburg Ballet, he regularly works as a guest choreographer with the most renowned international ballet companies.
John Neumeier has been internationally honoured with the highest awards for his lifetime achievements: in Germany with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, in France with the appointment as a Knight of the Legion of Honor and in Japan with the Kyoto Prize of the Inamori Foundation. In 2023, he received the Italian music prize Una vita nella musica, the Honorary Membership of the Hamburg State Opera, and was admitted as a new member of the order Pour le Mérite.
