Dr.ⁱⁿ Birgit Meyer , Dramaturgy
Lector for Dramaturgical project support
meyer-b@mdw.ac.at

Birgit Meyer studied medicine and theatre studies in Regensburg and Munich. After completing her medical studies, she initially worked as a research assistant at the University Hospital Rechts der Isar in Munich, obtaining her doctorate in medicine in 1989. Meyer continued to pursue her studies in theatre studies until she began her theatre career as a dramaturge at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck in 1992. In 1999, she moved from Innsbruck to Vienna, where she was chief dramaturge and a member of the management team at the Vienna Volksoper for 10 years until 2009. During this time, Meyer established links between the Volksoper and numerous cultural institutions in Vienna, including the Austrian Theatre Museum and the RadioKulturhaus. In cooperation with the Jewish Museum Vienna, she conceived and led an international symposium in 2005 on the topic: Degenerate Music – Rediscovered. At the Volksoper, Meyer also developed the entire programme for children and schools, designing model children's workshops and school projects. From 1996 to 2001, she worked regularly for the Salzburg Festival, which was under the direction of Gérard Mortier at the time. 

From 2004 to 2008, Birgit Meyer took on a teaching position at the Bayrische Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich in the dramaturgy programme and designed seminars on topics such as opera analysis and programme design. She was also a guest lecturer at the Institute for Musicology at the University of Vienna; from 2009 to 2013, she taught dramaturgy in the directing programme at the Department of Voice and Musical Theatre at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and has been working there again in the same capacity since 2023.

In 2009, Birgit Meyer became opera director at the Cologne Opera; from 2012 to 2022, she was the first woman to head the institution as artistic director. She promoted numerous young artists in all disciplines and was able to significantly increase the proportion of young people in the audience. The Cologne Opera has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Oper! Award for the best education programme of an opera house. Meyer was/is a sought-after jury member at international singing, directing and conducting competitions. The promotion of women is a particular concern of hers, for which she has worked in many different ways throughout her career, including as a mentor at the German Cultural Council and as a patron of the award-winning Cologne project Mit Frauen in Führung (With Women in Leadership). She has also made a name for herself as a speaker and author. Meyer is the editor of the three-part publication Was Oper kann!, Cologne 2022.

Translated with deepl.com-25.02.2026