Andreas Richter was born in Kiel in 1960 and grew up in northern Germany. After completing secondary school in Berlin, he studied musicology and music education with focus on the piano, as well as philosophy and protestant theology in Freiburg and Berlin. Upon completion of his university studies, he worked as a music teacher in various Berlin schools and, at the same time, as a journalist and dramaturge for institutions such as the Deutsche Oper Berlin. From 1985 until 1995 he was a freelance journalist for the Tagesspiegel Berlin. Since 1990, Andreas Richter has served as moderator for numerous family concerts for the Berliner Symphoniker, the Classic Open Air Festival, the Bochumer Sinfoniker, and the Staatstheater Wiesbaden. He is a contributing author to the award-winning book for school music instruction “Dreiklang”, published by Volk und Wissen. Andreas Richter has written numerous articles for music periodicals as well as program books for orchestras, opera houses, and CD releases for institutions including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Landestheater Neustrelitz, the Berliner Festwochen, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Berliner Symphoniker, and the label Teldec Classics. From 1991 to 1993 he was general manager of the Deutscher Kritikerverband. He currently serves or has served as a member of numerous juries, including the Deutscher Kritikerpreis, the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang, and the Steinway Piano Competition.
Andreas Richter began to work for the Komische Oper Berlin in 1996, first as personal assistant of the Intendant, soon afterwards also as head of the concerts department, and from autumn 2002 as head of communications (press, public relations, marketing). At the Komische Oper Berlin, he was responsible for the development of all activities involving youth and young talent, including moderation of more than 50 concerts in the past several years, and for the planning and organisation of all concerts, from symphonic programs to guest appearances to the gala concerts at Berlin’s Waldbühne.
Between 2004 and 2007, Andreas Richter managed the affairs of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin as Orchesterdirektor with great success. The main focal points and results of his work at the DSO can be seen in the rising numbers of concert attendees and subscription holders, development of the areas of educational and youth work, and the establishment of the orchestra’s image as a representative of German culture at home and abroad, in combination with successful cooperation with various media partners.
Andreas Richter became affiliated with the former Hochschule der Künste as a guest lecturer in 1988, and has also appeared in this capacity at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler. In January 2003, he became a guest professor at the University of the Arts Berlin in the newly founded master’s degree program “cultural journalism”.
At the beginning of March, 2007, Andreas Richter took on the position of General Manager at the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Together with the orchestra's Board and its Principal Conductor Daniel Harding, he guides and influences the orchestra's development since then. In May 2009, his contract was extended until 2013. He is inspired and motivated at the MCO by the enormous enthusiasm of its musicians and its office staff - and, of course, by the ensemble's high quality musicianship.
