Nicole Braunger, the first woman opera director at Staatstheater Karlsruhe, will stay on with the theater for three more years, until the summer of 2024, as part of an interim management restructuring at the opera house, Badische Neuste Nachrichten reported on February 25.

According to the report, Braunger originally asked that her contract not be extended beyond this year; however, that request was withdrawn and, at an administrative board meeting on February 24, the board hammered out the details for an interim management period of three years, this after deciding last November to terminate the contract of General Director Peter Spuhler.

The opera side of the theater has been in turmoil because of reported conflict between Spuhler and personnel which, according to the Badische Neuste Nachrichten story, was “characterized by control and pressure” that led some within the organization to quit their posts.

The Badische Neuste Nachrichten article noted that at the end of the 2023-24 interim season, the organization will bring on a new slate of managers as part of a long-term management plan.

Braunger’s bio on the Staatstheater Karlsruhe website states the opera director studied singing at the Vienna Conservatory and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and since 2017 has served as Head of Directors Division at ARSIS Artist Management in Vienna.

In a tweet posted on the Staatstheater Karlsruhe Twitter account, Braunger stated she was pleased by the board’s decision.