In 1962, after winning a national conducting competition, he made his debut as a conductor, followed by further studies with Hans Swarowsky.

In May 2013, Sanderling conducted the world premiere of the last opera by Mieczysław Weinberg, Der Idiot after the novel by Dostoyevsky, at the Nationaltheater Mannheim.

[2] In July 2017, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra announced the appointment of Sanderling as its next chief conductor and music director, effective August 2017.

[4] Shostakovich attended Sanderling's Moscow debut, and subsequently asked him to conduct the German first performances of his Symphonies No.

Sandering has recorded commercially Shostakovich's Michelangelo Suite, and song cycles for orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon.