Nikolaus Habjan, born in Graz in 1987, is one of the most versatile and sought-after (musical) theatre directors of his generation. Winner of no less than three Nestroy Awards, he is renowned not merely as a director, but also as an actor and puppeteer, singer and art whistler, transcending genre boundaries with ease. At the age of only 15, he began exploring puppet theatre, perfecting the use of hand puppets with mobile mouths during studies with Neville Tranter. To this day, he regularly uses this style of puppet in his productions which have been invited to numerous renowned theatres in Austria and abroad, including Munich’s Residenztheater, the Bavarian State Opera, Vienna's Burgtheater and Theater an der Wien, Zurich’s Schauspielhaus, Dortmund Opera, or the Semperoper Dresden. In addition to his intense directing schedule, Nikolaus Habjan is an experienced and versatile actor and puppeteer, for example in his celebrated programmes with Musicbanda Franui, which have taken him to most major concert stages in the German-language region. He also has a passion for another, nearly forgotten artistic genre: art whistling. Hailed as “Pavarotti and Bartoli in one person” (AZ), he has specialized in virtuoso coloratura arias, which he regularly performs to acclaim at such venues as Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Berlin's State Opera or the Bregenz Festival.