Margarete Zander studied musicology ('Dr. phil.' degree), philosophy, theology and education in Bonn and Osnabrück. Since 1980 she has worked as a cultural journalist for various radio stations (traineeship at Radio Bremen). At the end of 1988, she was acting editor-in-chief of the Hamburg private broadcaster Radio KORAH. From 1992-1994 she worked as "Director Artist Promotion and PR" at Teldec Classics International/Warner Classics.
radio features for ARD and DLF radio since 1989. She is specialized in contemporary music with composer portraits such as Boulez, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Pintscher, Saariaho, and musician portraits such as Alfred Brendel, Mitsuko Uchida, Evgeny Kissin, Nigel Kennedy. Broadcasting slots on NDR Kultur are "Neue Musik" and "Die großen Stars der Musik" as well as the music feature on WDR 3 and "Musik der Gegenwart" on Kulturradio vom rbb.
She was and is a member of various expert juries, including the Federal Cultural Foundation, the "Villa Aurora Scholarship" and, since 2009, the Karl Sczuka Prize. As an author of composer and artist portraits and CD reviews, she writes for magazines and books (Nikolaus Harnoncourt "Töne sind höhere Worte", Gespräche über romantische Musik, NZfM, nmz, music texts, Rondo, Berliner Philharmonikermagazin). She regularly moderates concerts and symposia.
From 2006 to 2013, Margarete Zander was curator of the "Ultraschall" festival for contemporary music in Berlin. She has been organizing the ""Galerienwanderung"" for Kulturradio vom rbb since 2006.
In April 2008, she started producing podcasts, which she has been producing in her own company for podcasts and cultural concepts since 2009. Margarete Zander also offers rhetoric coaching for musicians and non-musicians.
