Bayreuth co-head Wagner-Pasquier asks to step down

BERLIN (AP) — Eva Wagner-Pasquier has asked to step down as the co-head of the Bayreuth Festival next year.

German news agency dpa reports that the great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner asked that the board allow her to leave the post when her contract expires in 2015.

It said Bayreuth Festival spokesman Peter Emmerich confirmed a report Friday in the daily Nordbayerischer Kurier.

The reason for the request wasn't immediately known.

The 68-year-old has led the opera festival together with her half-sister Katharina Wagner since September 2008.