Biography

German conductor Philipp Benjamin Schneider (1997), is a recipient of the prestigious Forum Dirigieren scholarship.  In the 2025/26 season, Schneider will appear in concerts with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (OSCyL), the Orquesta de Extremadura (OEX), the Joensuu City Orchestra and the Philharmonie Hradec Králové. Beginning in autumn 2025, he will join the Zubin Mehta Conducting Chair program at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.

He studied orchestral conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. His most influential mentors include world-renowned conducting professors Sakari Oramo, Johannes Schlaefli, Vassilis Christopoulos, and Christoph Altstaedt.

In concert settings he has had the opportunity to work with professional orchestras such as Neubrandenburg Philharmonic, Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Joensuu City Orchestra, Gießen Philharmonic, and the Frankfurt University Orchestra. He has also conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic, Nuremberg Symphony, and Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in masterclasses. His artistic development has been further inspired through masterclasses with Anthony Hermus, Michael Sanderling, Martyn Brabbins, and Jorma Panula.

He has held assistantships with the Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden (‚Der Freischütz‘) and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (Shostakovich 10). Also active in the contemporary music scene, he has collaborated with composers such as Liza Lim and Hanyu Xiao. A particular highlight of his work to date was the performance of Alban Berg’s Chamber Concerto with soloists Miharu Ogura and Adam Woodward.

In 2024, he was a finalist with Das Kritische Orchester competition in Berlin.