Carsten Kirchmeier

Carsten Kirchmeier, born in Gelsenkirchen, studied theatre studies, musicology and English language and literature at Ruhr University Bochum. Whilst studying, he undertook several directing and dramaturgy placements at the Aalto Music Theatre in Essen, the Lower Saxony State Opera in Hanover and the Musiktheater im Revier. After completing his Master’s degree, he was appointed in 2001 as an assistant director and stage manager at the Aalto Theatre, where he worked with directors such as Johannes Schaaf, Stefan Herheim, Dietrich W. Hilsdorf, Barrie Kosky and Michael Schulz. In 2006, in collaboration with the Schauspiel Essen, he staged his first production as director: Mozart’s *Bastien und Bastienne*, conceived as a children’s opera. Since the 2008–09 season, Carsten Kirchmeier has been employed as Head of Staging and Director at the Musiktheater im Revier, where he has been responsible for numerous productions, including ‘On the Town’, ‘Moby Dick’ ‘Die Fledermaus’, ‘Der Kaiser von Atlantis’, ‘Linie 1’, ‘Curlew River’ and ‘Avenue Q’. He also regularly hosts the crossover concerts of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen. He wrote the script for the biographical solo show “Marlene und Die Dietrich”, which he also directed, and successfully hosted three runs of the show format “Fifty-Fifty – Die Wunschkonzertshow”, which he devised himself.