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Anne-May Krüger’s work is marked by its variety and scope, both on and behind the stage. The mezzo-soprano has appeared internationally as an acclaimed performer especially of contemporary music. She is also active as a librettist and holds a doctoral degree in musicology from the University of Basel.
Born in Berlin/Germany, Anne-May studied at the University of Music Karlsruhe, as well as with Rudolf Piernay. Early in her career she appeared at the State Opera in Stuttgart, and has been a guest artist with the Nationaltheater Mannheim and Theater Basel, among others. She has appeared repeatedly at the Lucerne Festival, premiering music-theater productions from Alfred Zimmerlin, Michael Wertmüller, Mike Svoboda, and Michel Roth. A recording of Michel Roth’s mono-opera Im Bau was released in December 2019 by the label WERGO. Further collaborations include, among others, composers Kurt Schwertsik, Manos Tsangaris, Andreas Eduardo Frank, and Hans Tutschku and the South African artist William Kentridge.
Anne-May Krüger works with groups such as ensemble recherche (Freiburg), Ensemble Ascolta (Stuttgart), Ensemble Phoenix Basel, and the Mondrian Ensemble (Basel). Together with Christian Zehnder, she has been a guest singer with Ensemble SoloVoices (Basel), performing Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Stimmung at Lucerne Festival, Stockhausen-Stiftung Kürten, Festival "Imago Dei" (Krems) and ENSEMS (Valencia). In 2021 she founded, together with composer and sound performer Andreas Eduardo Frank, the duo frKRr, linking voice and electronics. Opera productions have led to collaborations with conductors Bernhard Epstein, Michael Wendeberg and Titus Engel, as well as with stage directors Georges Delnon, Hendrik Müller, Massimo Rocchi, Johannes Schmid and Joachim Schlömer. She is a regular guest at renowned festivals, particularly for new music, such as "Wien Modern" (Vienna), "ZeitRäume Basel", "Rümlingen Festival" (CH), "MaerzMusik" (Berlin), "London Ear", "NUNC" (Northwestern University/Evanston) and "Contempuls" (Prague).
In 2021 her first libretto for Mike Svoboda's chamber opera Die Katze, die ihre eigenen Wege ging after Rudyard Kipling's The Cat Who Walked By Himself was premiered at Landestheater Linz/Austria. Their second collaboration, the opera Adam und Eva, based on Peter Hacks’s play by the same name, will be premiered in May 2025 at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele/Germany. Further performances will follow in November 2025 at the Landestheater Linz/Austria which is also coproducer of the production.
As a musicologist and lecturer, Anne-May’s activities focus on new music performance practice. She currently holds a professorship at the Academy of Music Basel / FHNW (Switzerland) as head of the degree program MA Music and Research. From 2011 to 2021 she was part of the research department at the same institution. Since fall 2020, she has held the position of a lecturer at the department for musicology at the University of Basel. Her articles have been published in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Dissonance, PFAU, Laaber-Verlag and at Brepols Publishers Turnhout. She has been invited for presentations and lecture performances Europe-wide. Her dissertation Musik über Stimmen (2022, Wolke Verlag) was was selected Book of the Month of German opera magazine Opernwelt (01/2025). Anne-May’s doctorate was funded by the Swiss National Funds.
Together with Mike Svoboda, Anne-May has been appointed artistic director of the first edition of the newly founded zeit:fluss festival in Sils Maria in Engadin. From Sept. 14-20, 2025, the festival theme On Summit Trails invites a curious audience to a varied program of chamber music and literature. Initiated by the famous Hotel Waldhaus Sils, the festival will take place in public and private spaces in and around Sils.
Future projects include the music theater BUILDING SUMISWALD (2026) at theater Biel/Solothurn (CH) in which Anne-May will be featured as singer, librettist and dramaturge, as well as a commission by the SWR Vokalensemble (text).