Ulf Schirmer

Born in Eschenhausen, Lower Saxony, Schirmer studied at the Bremen Conservatory, and also at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, with György Ligeti, Christoph von Dohnányi and Horst Stein.

He worked as an assistant to Lorin Maazel and conducted at the Wiener Staatsoper productions of Luciano Berio's Un re in ascolto, Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartung, and Alexander Glazunov's Raymonda.

His other work in opera has included conducting the first staged production of Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna by Walter Braunfels, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2008.

[3] On 23 March 2011, Schirmer was elected Intendant of the Oper Leipzig, with an initial five-year term beginning in August 2011, in addition to his title as GMD.

The work, commissioned by the Bayerischer Rundfunk, was performed in its reconstructed first version, with soloists Camilla Nylund and Christian Gerhaher.