Studies of piano and conducting at the Colleges of Art in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Master courses with Bernstein, Gardiner and Celibidache. Assistant to Friedemann Layer at the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. 1988-96 artistic director of the Sinfonietta Tübingen. 1991-94 conductor at the Theater Basel. Since 1996 chief conductor at the Theater Lübeck. Concert performances with, among others, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Geneva, Orchestre Radio-Symphonique de Luxembourg, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra del Teatro Communale Bologna. May 2002 he conducted at the Münchener Biennale the first performance of the opera "Der Jude von Malta" from André Werner.

Since 1997 musical director of the Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin