The Nationaltheater Mannheim has announced that Elena Tzavara will become the new Artistic Director of the opera.

She will begin in her new position during the 2028-29 season.

She will succeed our current director Albrecht Puhlmann, who has been leading the opera department since 2016.

In a statement Mannheim’s Mayor Christian Specht said, Tzavara is “a highly experienced opera director and theater manager with artistic excellence and international experience. She has a clear vision of how opera can reach new audiences and engage with the city’s community.”

Tzavara added it is “a joy, an honor, and an obligation all at once to be able to help shape the future of the National Theatre Mannheim.”

Tzavara is an opera director, librettist, cultural manager, and since the 2023-24 season, she has been the general director of the Theater Aachen. She has directed at the National Theatre Weimar, the Greek National Opera, the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, the Cologne Opera, and the Salzburg Festival.