The internationally renowned conductor and university lecturer Ulrich Windfuhr has been a professor of conducting and orchestral conducting since 2006. He was initially at the university in Leipzig and has been teaching in Hamburg since 2013. He trains future conductors. In addition to his teaching activities, he works continuously with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, conducts and teaches worldwide. He is an impressive conductor and educator in one person and combines deep artistic expressiveness with great didactic commitment and empathy. With his charismatic presence, he has been shaping the next generation of talented con- ductors for many years and encouraging them to develop their own personal style. Windfuhr sets standards worldwide in musical education and interpretation. His students prevail in international competitions and in professional life. In 2002 he was nominated „Conductor of the Year“ by the renowned magazine Opernwelt. He received his training from the legendary conductors Franco Ferrara, Leonard Bernstein and Carlo Maria Giulini, among others. Windfuhr is a member of the Free Academy of Arts in Hamburg.
Career stages
Ulrich Windfuhr‘s most important places as a conductor have been major German theatres, such as the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he was a regular guest conductor from 2006 to 2011, and the theatres of the state capital Kiel. Here he attracted international attention as General Music Director in close collaboration with the artistic director and stage director Kirsten Harms. The production of the ‘Ring des Nibelungen’ as well as the production of Richard Strauss operas and a cycle of Franz Schreker‘s operas were so successful that the magazine Opernwelt nominated the Kiel stages sev- eral times as ‘Opera House of the Year’ and the renowned record company CPO regularly produced complete record- ings of operas with the conductor. Windfuhr began his career as a conductor in 1986 at the Dortmund Theatre. It led him via the theatres of Augsburg and Nuremberg and the Lower Saxony State Theatre in Hanover to Kiel, Leipzig, Berlin and finally Hamburg. International concert activity In addition to his regular engagements, Windfuhr has conducted numerous prestigious orchestras in Germany. He also quickly attracted attention in other European countries. His concert activities with many international orchestras brought him great recognition not only in Europe, but also in Asia and the USA. He was artistic director of the Jinju Festival in South Korea and was chief conductor of the Orchestra of Abruzzo, based in L‘Aquila in Italy.
Honours and awards
His musical perfection and finely nuanced expressivity have earned him the following honours, among others: • 1985: Winner of the Vittorio Gui International Conducting Competition, Florence • 1986: Winner of the Janos Ferencsic International Conducting Competition, Budapest • 2002: Nominated as ‘Conductor of the Year’ by the renowned magazine Opernwelt Several of his recordings have been honoured with important awards, such as the Diapason d‘Or, the Choc de la Mu- sique and the Orphée d‘Or. Training and artistic development Ulrich Windfuhr began his studies in conducting (Volker Wangenheim), piano (Günter Ludwig) and chamber music (Amadeus Quartet) in Cologne in 1978. After graduating with honours, he moved to Vienna on a DAAD scholarship and completed his studies with Franco Ferrara in Siena, Florence and Rome.