He has staged productions in Europe and North America, including several world premieres of both drama and opera.
[4] From 1989/90, he tried with Vera Sturm, Alexander Lang and Volkmar Clauß (called the Viererbande) to rescue the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin [de], which closed in 1993.
He also staged operas internationally, in Zürich, Barcelona, Oslo, Moscow, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Toulouse, Oviedo, Dallas, Santiago de Chile and often at the Santa Fe Opera, including the U.S. premieres of Henze's We Come to the River and Venus and Adonis.
[5] Kirchner collaborated with conductors such as Michael Gielen, Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, James Levine, Gerd Albrecht, Paolo Carignani, Graeme Jenkins, Dennis Russell Davies and Bertrand de Billy.
He staged world premieres of playwrights such as Martin Walser, Peter Turrini, Heiner Müller, Herbert Achternbusch, Dario Fo, Maxim Gorki and Gerlind Reinshagen and composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Hans Zender and Udo Zimmermann.