Marie-Sünje Schade, born 1991 in Kiel, grew up in Germany and the USA. She studied musicology and business studies in Freiburg im Breisgau, Bologna and Cologne. Her professional path took her to the Salzburger Festspiele, the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor and -Ensemble, the Opernhaus Düsseldorf and Concerto Köln, amongst others. She received a stipend in the programme »Akademie Musiktheater heute« from the Deutsche Bank Stiftung in the area dramaturgy.

From 2018 to 2025, Schade held a position in the Konzerthaus Dortmund and was head of artistic operations and programme planning. In this capacity, she was a central part of the development of innovative concert formats – for example the abonnement series »Neuland«, which focusses on artistic experiments and expanded sensory experiences, or the festival »Zeitinsel«, which is dedicated to contemporary composers. Her career is shaped by a clear focus on programmatic innovation and the further development of classic concert formats. Since 2025, she has been the artistic manager and managing director of Ensemble Resonanz.