Marie-Luise Dreßen received violin lessons before studying singing with Prof. Elvira Dreßen and Prof. Roland Schubert from 2003-2009 at the University of Music and Theater in Leipzig. She worked in master classes with Christa Ludwig, Brigitte Fassbaender and Franz Grundträger.

From 2009 to 2011 Marie-Luise Dreßen was a member of the ensemble of the Gera-Altenburg Theater, where she performed as Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Composer Ariadne auf Naxos, Dejanira Hercules, Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Nele Ulenspiegel, among others. In 2010 she took on the role of Sieglinde Die Walküre in a concert performance at the end of the Richard Wagner Festival in Leipzig, and in 2011 she appeared as Octavian Der Rosenkavalier at the Malmö Opera.

From 2011 to 2016 Marie-Luise Dreßen was a member of the ensemble at Theater Luzern, where she performed as Orlando, Sesto La clemenza di Tito, Eliza My Fair Lady, Angelina La cenerentola, Ruggiero Alcina, Composer Ariadne auf Naxos, Mercedes Carmen, Nancy Albert Herring, Adalgisa Norma, Valencienne The Merry Widow and Mrs. Lovett Sweeney Todd. In January 2011 she sang in a world premiere of Simon Wills The stolen smells in Kampnagel under the direction of Thomas Hengelbrock and with the NDR symphony orchestra. In 2015 she made her debut at the Basel Theater in the Hölderlin production by Peter Ruzicka and Vera Nemirova and sang the leading role of Fausta in the music theater project The Voices of Women from the River by Howard Arman, directed by Carlus Padrissa (Fura dels baus). In summer 2017 she sang Freia Das Rheingold with the Beethoven Academy Krakau at the Kulturwaldfestival Blaibach and made her debut at the Staatstheater Kassel as Hänsel in November 2017 - which she sang with the Gewandhausorchester in December 2016 under the baton of Professor Ulf Schirmer. From the 2017 to 2019 season, Marie-Luise Dreßen was an ensemble member at the Staatstheater Kassel. Here she sang Bersi in Andrea Chenier, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Frau Reich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Hansel, Wellgunde and Sierune in the Ring of the Nibelung, Baba the Turk in The Rakes Progress, Meg Page in Falstaff and various concerts led by GMD Francesco Angelico. In 2018 she made her debut at the Bastille in Paris as a Flower Girl in Parsifal under the baton of Philippe Jordan. Marie-Luise Dreßen has been working as a freelancer since the 19/20 season. In summer 2019 she sang the 3rd Lady in Die Zauberflöte at the Festival im Steinbruch in St. Magarethen under the direction of Karsten Januschke. With this role she could also be heard at the Teatro Real in Madrid under the direction of Ivor Bolton in winter 2020. In 2020 she sang Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, as well as Meg Page in Falstaff at the Freiburg Theater and will return to the Bastille in winter 2020/21 with the 3rd Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Rossweisse in Die Walküre.

Marie-Luise Dreßen is also a regular guest on the concert podium as an alto soloist and works with the pianists Alexander Schmalcz and Eric Schneider. Her debut at Kissinger Sommer was in July 2017. She will return there in summer 2019. With the WDR choir she sang Misa Tango by Martin Palmeri under the direction of Mariano Chiaccarini.

Marie-Luise Dreßen received the Theater Oscar from Bühnen Altenburg in 2010, was voted the theater audience's favorite in Gera in 2012 and received the Prix Gala of the Lucerne Theater Club in 2014. In 2013 she was nominated for her interpretation of Sesto La clemenza di Tito and in 2014 for Ruggiero Alcina in the magazine “Opernwelt” as “Best Young Artist”. At the Staatstheater Kassel she was awarded the Irma Jansa Prize in 2019.