Michael von zur Mühlen, born in 1979, studied musicology and philosophy at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and music theater direction at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. Since 2004 he has directed drama, opera, and contemporary music theater productions at, among others, Forum Neues Musiktheater of the Staatsoper Stuttgart; Volksbühne Berlin; Oper Leipzig; Nationaltheater Weimar; Deutsche Theater Göttingen; Staatstheater Darmstadt; Staatsoper Berlin; and Oper Halle. Bertolt Brecht plays an important role for him; he has directed these plays by Brecht: “Saint Joan of the Stockyards“; “Life of Galileo“; “Lesson“; and “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.“ The magazine “Theater der Zeit“ wrote about his “Mahagonny“ production: “This is a critique of capitalism at its pinnacle.“ He´s a regular guest on panel discussions (for example, at the Salzburg Festival; Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts); Staatsoper Berlin; and Brechthaus Berlin), and he has published essays and articles on music and theater in magazines such as “Die Deutsche Bühne“ and “Theater der Zeit.“ He has been the director and principal dramaturge in the management team at Halle Opera since the beginning of the 2016/2017 season; the advanced program at Halle Oper has received great acclaim throughout Germany since its artistic reboot in the summer of 2016, and the opera house has received several awards and awards. For example, Oper Halle received the most nominations during the season 2017/2018 from the trade magazine “Die Deutsche Bühne“ in the category “Most Convincing Theater Work Outside Large Theater Centers,“ and it was awarded the German Federal Theater Prize in 2019. As an important pillar of its program, every season the opera house initiates a world premiere on its main stage featuring composers such as Sarah Nemtsov and Johannes Kreidler, as well as renowned authors (Clemens Meyer; Dirk Laucke). The German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit“ had this to say about his recent production of Verdi´s “Aida“ in Halle: “This performance marks a precedent. It shows what opera can do in the 21st century, when it is discursively up-to-date and possesses an aesthetically pleasing permeability.“ In addition to his work as a director and managing director of a theater, Michael von zur Mühle teaches direction, dramaturgy, and theater theory. In 2019 he is the Bertolt Brecht visiting professor of the City of Leipzig. In the 2019/2020 season von zur Mühle will direct “Iphigenia in Tauris“ by J.W. von Goethe at Staatstheater Braunschweig, as well as the world premiere of “opera, opera, opera! revenants and revenutions“ by Ole Hübner and Thomas Köck for the Munich Biennale of new music theater at Cuveilliés Theater in Munich.
