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Alfred Kirchner
Alfred Kirchner
Born	22 May 1937 (age 87); Göppingen, Germany
Education	Max-Reinhardt-Schule für Schauspiel
Occupations	Actor; Stage director; Opera director; Theatre manager; Academic teacher;
Organizations	Theater Bremen; Schauspielhaus Bochum; Burgtheater; Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin; University of Georgia; Musikhochschule Hamburg; Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler";

Alfred Kirchner (born 22 May 1937) is a German actor, theatre director (especially for opera) and theatre manager who is based in Berlin. He worked at theatres such as Theater Bremen, Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Burgtheater in Vienna and the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin, before turning to freelance work. He has staged productions in Europe and North America, including several world premieres of both drama and opera. He directed the premiere of Martin Walser's Ein Kinderspiel in Stuttgart in 1971, the U.S. premiere of Henze's We Come to the River at the Santa Fe Opera in 1984, and the premiere of Hans Zender's Stephen Climax at the Oper Frankfurt in 1986. In 1994, he staged Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival.

Life

Kirchner was born in Göppingen, the son of a Schriftleiter.^[1] He was trained as an actor at the Max-Reinhardt-Schule für Schauspiel [de] in Berlin.^[2] He first worked as an actor and assistant stage director (Regieassistent) at the Theater Kiel. At the Theater Bremen from 1964 to 1971, he first assisted Peter Zadek and Peter Palitzsch.^[1]^[3] Kirchner is married; the couple have two daughters and live in Berlin and Stuttgart.

Career

Kirchner's first theatre staging was Hall/Waterhouse's Lügen-Billy in Bremen in 1965.^[1] He worked at the Schauspielhaus Bochum with Hans Schalla. From 1972 to 1979, he led the drama section of the Staatstheater Stuttgart as Oberspielleiter. From 1974, he was a member of the board of directors there, together with Claus Peymann [de]. He staged as a guest at international theatres, opera houses and festivals, including New York City, the Wiener Festwochen, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam and the Mülheimer Theatertage. In 1979, he and other members of the Stuttgart theatre moved with Peymann to Bochum. When Peymann moved again to the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1986, Kirchner followed.^[4] From 1989/90, he tried with Vera Sturm, Alexander Lang and Volkmar Clauß (called the Viererbande) to rescue the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin [de], which closed in 1993.^[3]

Kirchner then worked as a freelance opera director, including the Oper Frankfurt, Leipzig Opera, Vienna State Opera and Hamburg State Opera. He participated at Berliner Theatertreffen several times. He also staged operas internationally, in Zürich, Barcelona, Oslo, Moscow, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Toulouse, Oviedo, Dallas, Santiago de Chile and often at the Santa Fe Opera, including the U.S. premieres of Henze's We Come to the River and Venus and Adonis.^[2] In 1994, he staged Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival.^[5]