Christiane Iven worked internationally as an opera and concert singer for three decades (1986 to 2015). Today, she is a professor of singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich and works as an opera director and coach.
She began her career as a mezzo-soprano and later switched to soprano. She was a permanent member of the ensemble at various theaters, including many years at the Stuttgart State Opera.
Her principal roles included Octavian and the Field Marshal’s Wife (Der Rosenkavalier), Elvira (Don Giovanni), Agathe (Der Freischütz), Marie (Wozzeck), and Kundry (Parsifal). She also performed roles such as Charlotte (Werther), Didon (Les Troyens), Emilia Marty (Die Sache Makropulos), Katja Kabanova (Janáček), Sieglinde (Die Walküre), and Isolde (Tristan und Isolde).
As a concert singer, she has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Ensemble intercontemporaine, the NDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
Her recitals with pianists Burkhard Kehring, Igor Levit, Wolfram Rieger, András Schiff, Jan Philip Schulze, and others were a central artistic focus and a particular passion for her. She has appeared at major music festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and the Schwetzingen SWR Festival.
She was awarded the Lower Saxony State Prize and the title of “Kammersängerin” (chamber singer) by the state of Baden-Württemberg for her artistic achievements.
Born in Hamburg, she studied in her hometown with Judith Beckmann and with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin. She is a prize winner of the German Music Competition and several international song competitions.
From 2001 to 2007, Christiane Iven was a professor at the University of Music, Drama, and Media in Hanover. Since 2013, she has been a professor of singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, where she also held the position of vice president from 2021 to 2023. She also teaches singing at the Bavarian Theater Academy August Everding. Christiane Iven is a jury member at international singing competitions and gives numerous singing courses, including at the International Music Academy for Soloists (IMAS) and the International Hugo Wolf Academy.
She also works as a coach and consultant in the fields of music, theater, and music education.
Christiane Iven made her directorial debut in 2023 with Verdi’s La Traviata at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, followed in 2025 by a production of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.
