At the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Sanderling studied with the conductors Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Edo de Waart and John Nelson.
[11] Sanderling conducted the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in its Carnegie Hall debut in May 2011, as part of the 'Spring for Music' festival.
[12] Sanderling became music director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2008 summer season, a post he held until 2011.
On 31 December 2002, there was an incident at the Raymond James Stadium where the couple was supposed to meet the Tampa businessman David Harbert at an American football game, as guests.
The incident escalated because a security guard was reported to have stated that he "couldn't risk letting the couple inside because they were foreigners".
The matter resolved in a letter of apology from Barbara Casey, director of communications for the Tampa Sports Authority, to Sanderling.