Natalija
Stanković

Natalija Stanković is a Serbian opera director whose artistic profile encompasses contemporary music theatre, interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive theatre practice. Her work moves between new music, cultural heritage and contemporary forms of audience engagement, with a particular focus on productions for young audiences and community-oriented projects.

Her academic career began with a degree in music theory at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, followed by a Master’s degree in opera directing at the Verona Accademia per l’Opera.

As an assistant director, she gained experience at institutions and festivals including the Operosa Montenegro Opera Festival, the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Jerusalem Lyric Opera Studio, the Ente Luglio Musicale Trapanese and the Abay Opera House in Kazakhstan. She also completed an internship at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival.

Her directing credits include contemporary opera and music theatre productions such as Milica Ilić’s “Džumbus” (2019) and “XX (Monoopera for Schizophrenic Voice and Strings)” (2021), Olga Janković’s “Clean Water” (2022) and Vera Milanković’s operetta “Behind the Opera Scene” (2023). In 2021, she revived Milenko Živković’s “Children’s Room”, the first Serbian children’s opera, and directed Benjamin Britten’s “Let’s Make an Opera! / The Little Sweep”. She has also created inclusive music theatre productions in collaboration with people on the autism spectrum, including “The Fairytale of Titirija” (2023) and “The Circle of Fairy Dobrila” (2024).

Since 2025, she has worked as an assistant to the management team at Cologne Children’s Opera. In the 2026/27 season, she will co-direct “The Grand Hotel of Emotions” with Katja Fischer.