Anna Melcher

Anna Melcher was born in Krefeld and studied German Literature, Philosophy, Politics and Law at the University of Bonn, where she co-founded the theatre company “Gedankenstriche”. Before her first state exams in law and during her clerkship at the Court of Appeal in Berlin, she had already worked as an Assistant Dramaturg at the Berliner Ensemble (for Christoph Schlingensief, Klaus Emmerich, Carl Hegemann and others), as an Assistant Director and Dramaturg at the Volksbühne Berlin (with Jürgen Kruse and others), as an editor for publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch on the book about Christoph Schlingensief’s project ‘Chance 2000’, in Berlin’s Department of Culture and subsequently for a year at Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden on the staff of the General Manager. Following her second state exams in law in 2000, she became Personal Assistant to the Artistic Director of Kiel Opera Kirsten Harms, while also working as a freelance dramaturg. From 2002/03, she was engaged by Städtische Bühnen Osnabrück as Music Dramaturg for operas and concerts, and she also worked as a visiting lecturer in the Music department at Osnabruck University. At the beginning of the 2005/06, she joined Staatstheater Oldenburg as Chief Dramaturg for Music Theatre, becoming Associate to the Artistic Director and Dramaturg for Opera and Theatre from 2006/07. She then moved at the beginning of 2008/09 to the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, to become Chief Dramaturg and Deputy to the Artistic Director Michael Schulz, before joining the Semperoper Dresden in the summer of 2014 as Chief Dramaturg and Deputy to the Director in artistic matters.

Since the 2019/20 season Anna Melcher is Chief Dramaturg and since May 2025 also Deputy Artistic Director at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.