Christiane Lutz (*1980) grew up in Wiesbaden, Germany. She studied opera directing (class of Prof. D. v. Orlowsky) at the University of Music and Performing Arts (UmdK) in Wien (Vienna, Austria), as well as theatre studies (with subsidiary classes in musicology, history of art and business administration) at Vienna University.

In the season of 2005/06 she worked as an assistant director at the Theater Lübeck, Germany, before moving as assistant director for three seasons (2006/07 - 2008/09) to the Graz Opera, Austria. Since June 2009 she lives in Vienna/Wien as freelance opera director.

Among her productions are the debut productions of the „Operas of the Future“ (Graz Opera, 2009), George Fr. Handel’s operas „Alcina“ (Graz Opera, 2007) and „Ariodante“ (UmdK Vienna, 2005), Franz von Suppés „Die schöne Galathée“ (Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, Berlin, Germany, 2006), and Maurice Ravels „L´ heure espagnole“ (UmdK Vienna, 2004).
In January 2009 she co-directed Giuseppe Verdi’s „Nabucco“ (B/I: Jörg Koßdorff, B/K: Herbert Kapplmüller) at the Graz Opera.

A major focus of her work are productions for young audiences and the promotion of young artists: since the season of 2006/07 she is responsible for the conception and realization of a series of „Family concerts” on the main stage of the Graz Opera, for which she has created scenic composer portraits of Mozart, Schubert, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Britten, Bernstein, Wagner, and Haydn.

Further projects include the continuations of the family concerts at the Graz Opera and the Theater Augsburg, Germany in the season of 2009/10. In addition to other assistantships, she will also be in charge of the European tour of the „Infernal Comedy“ with John Malkovich (Opera Garnier/Paris, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Perelada Festival/Spain, Wiener Festwochen).

During her studies she has been awarded scholarships of the Salzburg Festival, the University of Vienna and the Richard Wagner Association Bayreuth. She took classes and workshops with Martin Kusej, Claus Peymann, Joachim Schlömer, Peter Konwitschny, Ioan Holender, Hermann Beil, and Peter Turrini.

While working as an assistant or stage manager in several opera productions at the Wiener Staatsoper and the Wiener Burgtheater (Vienna), the Hamburgischen Staatsoper (Hamburg, Germany) and the Schwetzinger Festspielen (Schwetzingen, Germany), she had the opportunity to work with directors like Achim Freyer, Stefan Herheim, Andreas Homoki, Philipp Himmelmann, Peter Konwitschny, Marco Arturo Marelli, and Michael Sturminger.