Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts Appoints New Director of Music Department

Salome Kammer becomes the first woman to step into the role

Salome Kammer has been appointed as the new Head of the Music Department at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts — and is the first woman to hold the position. She succeeds Nikolaus Brass, who has been in the role since 2021.

Founded in 1948, the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts is divided into five departments: Fine Arts, Literature, Music, Performing Arts, and Film and Media Art. Its purpose is to "constantly observe the development of the arts, promote them in any way it deems appropriate, or make suggestions for their promotion." 

A cellist and singer, Salome Kammer studied cello with Maria Kliegel and Janos Starker in Essen. She then worked as an actress with the Heidelberg Theatre, where for five years she appeared in numerous roles in spoken theater, musicals, operettas, and young people’s theater.

She appeared in the 1988 film Die zweite Heimat as the cellist Clarissa. After this time, she trained as a vocalist and grew to become a specialist in contemporary music. She has appeared with ensembles including Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Asko Ensemble, and ensemble recherche. In addition, she has sung in contemporary opera productions in Stuttgart, Paris, Lyon, and at the Bavarian State Opera, among many others.

Also active as a cabaret and theater performer, Kammer has sung the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady more than 150 times and, together with the pianist and composer Peter Ludwig, she came to know the cabaret and variety theaters of Germany inside and out with the program "Chanson Bizarre". She teaches contemporary music for singers at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich.