Born in London, Joel began his conducting career in Nuremberg, followed by positions at Baden bei Wien, Klagenfurt and the Vienna Volksoper.
From 2001 to 2007 he held the position of Erster Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Duisburg.
[2] He has served as guest conductor for numerous orchestras in Europe and elsewhere, including the Bavarian State Opera, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Hamburg State Opera.
Outside Germany, Joel has conducted at the Teatro Regio in Parma, the Finnish National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Municipal Theater of Santiago, Chile, and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, among others.
His father Howard, born Helmut Joel in Nuremberg, had immigrated with his parents to the United States as refugees from the Nazi persecution of Jews.