Stephan Müller (born 7 July 1951) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and a teacher of multimedia

Aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

Life

Stephan Müller was born at

Oberbuchsiten Oberbuchsiten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Gäu (district), Gäu in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. History Oberbuchsiten is first mentioned in 1040 as '' ...

( SO). His theatre career began in 1972 at the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not h ...

, then under

Werner Düggelin Werner Düggelin (7 December 1929 – 6 August 2020) was a Swiss theatre director. Life Provenance and early years Düggelin was born in Zürich. He grew up in Siebnen in the canton of Schwyz. Slightly unusually for the time, he was born int ...

and . Müller was employed as an extra and assistant production director, later becoming the chief dramaturge. In 1975 he relocated to the United States where he worked for several years. Those with whom he worked there included Robert Wilson,

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordi ...

Lee Breuer Esser Leopold "Lee" Breuer (February 6, 1937 – January 3, 2021) was an Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer-, Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony-nominated American playwright, theater director, academic, educator, filmmaker, poet, and lyricist. Breuer taugh ...

and

Richard Foreman Richard Foreman (born Edward L. Friedman; June 10, 1937 – January 4, 2025) was an American avant-garde experimental playwright and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Though highly original and singular, his work was influenced by ...

: he also worked with the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

Mabou Mines Mabou Mines is an experimental theatre company founded in 1970 and based in New York City. Founding and history Mabou Mines was founded by David Warrilow, Lee Breuer, Ruth Maleczech, JoAnne Akalaitis, and Philip Glass, at the house of Akalaiti ...

theatre company. He himself was a co-founder of the "Red Wing/Mixed" group which existed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

between 1976 and 1980. Returning to Switzerland, in 1978 he took a job at the Zürich Playhouse where he led the "Labor im Schauspielhaus" series. Between 1980 and 1988 he worked as a freelance play director in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Tübingen, Basel, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Hamburg (

Kampnagel Kampnagel is a theatre in Hamburg, Germany. It is Germany's biggest independent production venue for the performing arts. It is based on the premises of a former mechanical engineering factory in Winterhude Winterhude () is a quarter in the war ...

), San Francisco and New York (Public Theatre). During this period he also worked regularly as a guest lecturer at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

. In 1988 he returned to the

where by now

Frank Baumbauer Frank Baumbauer (born 2 September 1945 in Munich, Germany) is a German theater director and artistic director active in the German theater community. He is the son of German casting agent Erna Baumbauer. Baumbauer was from 2001 to 2009 the d ...

had taken over. Between 1993 and 1999, jointly with

Volker Hesse Volker Hesse (born 30 December 1944) is a German Theatre producer. Between 2001 and 2006 he was the Theatrical Director at Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater. More recently he has been working in Switzerland. Life Volker Hesse was born in the Hun ...

, Müller took charge at the Theater am Neumarkt (''"New Market Theatre"'') in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. During this period the theatre's productions were particularly well regarded in German-speaking parts of Europe. Between 1999 and 2004 he worked at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

in Vienna as a drama director and dramaturge. More recently he has been heading up the Master of Arts theatre production degree course at the

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...

, while also working as a freelance drama director.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Stephan People from Basel-Stadt Swiss theatre directors Swiss opera directors 1951 births Living people Academic staff of the Berlin University of the Arts