Michael Schindhelm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (May 2008)

This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.
You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (May 2008)

This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

Michael Schindhelm (born October 1, 1960 in Eisenach) is a German author, film director, and theater manager.

After completing his Abitur, with an emphasis on chemistry, in 1979 Mr. Schindhelm studied at the State University of Woronesch in the former USSR, finishing his studies with a degree in quantum chemistry. From 1984 to 1986 he served as an assistant professor in the Zentralinstitut für physikalische Chemie of the Akademie der Wissenschaften in East Berlin. There he worked in the department of theoretical chemistry (director: Lutz Zülicke), together with the current German chancellor Angela Merkel. After that, he worked until 1990 as translator, author, and dramatic advisor.

In 1990, Schindhelm became advisor to the theater manager in Nordhausen, then director of the Nordhausen Loh-Orchester Sondershausen Foundation. In 1992 his was appointed director of the theater and opera stages, city of Gera.

From 1994 to 1996 he was the general director of the Theater Altenburg-Gera, then, from 1996 to 2006, director of the Theater Basel, winner of the 1999 Theater of the Year in the German-speaking region, and 1999 and 2001 Bavarian Theater Award. From April 2005, he served as general director of the opera foundation in Berlin (Komische Oper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Deutsche Oper Berlin).

Since March 2007, Schindhelm has served as culture director in Dubai (UAE) and since March 2008 as Director of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

Furthermore Michael Schindhelm continues to work as an novelist, librettist, and interpreter (Russian to German). In 2003 he filmed the documentary “Chants of the Steppes“ in the Gobi desert together with Jörg Jeshel. From 2003 to 2008 he shot the film “Birds Nest,“ on the making of the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. From 2004 to 2006 Michael Schindhelm was host of the talkshow “Der Salon“ on Suisse TV.