Inge Ceustermans is the General Director of The Festival Academy, a non-profit organization initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA). The Festival Academy offers unique, intense and rigorous peer learning training programs on festival management to emerging, dynamic and passionate festival leaders worldwide starting from the essence of festivals: art, artists and audiences. It  is a global growing community  of creative individuals  counting today 1700+ emerging festival leaders and festival and cross-sector experts from 140+ countries and all continents:  informed, skilled and networked festival leaders and activists with global perspectives, who can act in solidarity to effect change locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.

Studied directing at the Russian Theatre Academy RATI-GITIS in Moscow from 1992 to 1996. From 2011 to 2014, Schmidtke worked as head dramaturge at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus under Staffan Valdemar Holm. He was then acting director and chief dramaturge at the Wiener Festwochen under artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser from 2014 to 2026. From 2016 to 2018, he built up the structure of the program and event area for the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. In 2020, Stefan Schmidtke took over as Artistic Director of the Theater der Welt festival in Düsseldorf. Since 2021, he has been the CEO and Program Director of European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 GmbH.

Dittrich studied tuba and singing, pedagogy and musical sciences in Dresden from 1986-1991. From 1991, he worked as a musician and dramaturgical assistant at the Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen and was appointed artistic director of the Ensemble in 2002. Since the 2013/2014 , Christoph Dittrich has been General Director of Städtische Theater Chemnitz GmbH. The concept of the production of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen by four female directors in 2018, which was crowned by the prestigious German Theatre Prize “Der Faust” for Elisabeth Stöppler and her direction of “Götterdämmerung”, received outstanding recognition. Another focus of the theatre's work is cultural education, including a partner school concept, and its connection to the city's society.