Andrea Zietzschmann was born in Schwenningen am Neckar and grew up in St. Georgen in the Black Forest. She studied musicology, business administration and art history in Freiburg, Vienna and Hamburg, as well as cultural and media management in Berlin.
Before completing her Master's degree, she had already gained experience in cultural management at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik and the Stuttgart and Hamburg State Operas. From 1994 to 1996, she worked for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, which was founded on the initiative of Claudio Abbado. In 1997, together with Abbado, Andrea Zietzschmann initiated the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which she led as artistic director until 2003. She also supported Abbado in founding the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. In 2003, she moved to Hessischer Rundfunk, where she worked as orchestra manager until 2008 and then as head of music until 2013. After ten years, Andrea Zietzschmann moved to Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg, where she managed all four orchestras and concert programmes of the four-state broadcaster, including the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra's move into the newly-opened Elbphilharmonie. She became Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation in the 2017/2018 season.