Rocc (born Rok Rappl, 14 December 1979 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian-born opera and music theatre stage director, scenic designer, dramaturge, performance artist, opera manager and pedagogue. His mononymous pseudonym is a tribute to , Rocc's professor of stage acting and his life mentor.
Biography
Rocc studied opera stage directing at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, Czech Republic (1998–2003, Master of Arts), followed up by postgraduate studies in scenography at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Zurich, Switzerland (2003–2005, Executive Master), and with at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach am Main, Germany (2005–2006). He was granted a scholarship by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, as well as receiving support from the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
He has staged more than 60 different productions in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Norway, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Great Britain and Israel. He has worked with opera houses in Ljubljana, Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Riga, Wrocław, with the Grieg Hall and the National Theatre in Bergen, with the Ljubljana's Cankar Centre, with the Jerusalem Centre for the Performing Arts and elsewhere. His projects have been presented at several international festivals, such as ISCM World Music Days, Ljubljana Festival, Bergen International Festival, Prague Quadrennial, OPERA Festival in Prague, Janáček Brno Festival, , Exposition of New Music Festival in Brno, project in the Czech Republic, Warsaw Autumn Festival of Contemporary Music, Audio Art Festival in Kraków, Festival of Sacred Music in Pordenone, Day of the Composer in the Netherlands, Jerusalem Lyric Opera Festival. Rocc has a special affinity for contemporary opera combining alternative sound, performing and installation arts, new media and site-specific projects. Since 2013 he has been the initiator and Artistic Director of Concept operapovera, an ensemble focused on contemporary and experimental music theatre aesthetics.
In the 2007/2008 season he held the post of Dramaturge of the Slovenian National Opera in Maribor. The 2008/2009 season saw him as Deputy Artistic Director and Dramaturge of the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno, in 2009–2011 he was Artistic Director of the Janáček Opera and a member of the Programme Board of the International Janáček Brno Festival. In 2011–2013 he was Artistic Director of the Prague State Opera, which has been affiliated with the National Opera in Prague since 2012. In 2013–2019 he was Artistic Director of the Slovenian National Opera in his hometown Ljubljana.
Rocc is also active as a pedagogue of opera stage directing and opera acting and as a member of professional juries.
Recognitions
2018 Recognition for important works of art, the highest artistic title of the University of Ljubljana, which is equivalent to the scientific title of Doctor of Science 2020 Recognition of the Mayor of the Municipality of Litija on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of artistic activities