Reinhard Seehafer was born in Magdeburg. He studied conducting, composing and piano in Leipzig and Weimar with Kurt Masur and Rolf Reuter and was qualified as a conductor with Leonard Bernstein and Otmar Suitner. While still a student he was awarded with the Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Prize in 1980. In 1982 he created a sensation with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” at the Komische Oper Berlin and was immediately engaged there. He worked with directors and choreographers such as Harry Kupfer, Joachim Herz and Tom Schilling. In 1989 Seehafer became principal conductor and artistic director of the opera houseof Görlitz. In 1991, together with the director of the opera house Görlitz, Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, Reinhard Seehafer co-founded the cross-cultural project EUROPERA where he was musical director and principal conductor until 1998. In the same year he founded the Europa Philharmonie, where he was the music director till 2013. From 1994 – 2000 Reinhard Seehafer was principal conductor of the State Youth Orchestra of Saxony and from 2000 – 2006 he assumed the position of artistic director of the International Summer Music Academy Schloss Hundisburg. Since 2014 he has been Intendant of the”Altmark Festspiele” in Saxony – Anhalt. Reinhard Seehafer is a welcome guest at International Opera Houses, Festivals and Orchestras. He has led many renowned orchestras like Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Staatskapelle Weimar, Dresden Philharmonic, Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Lodz, Israel Sinfonietta, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra,Prague Philharmonia, Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Amazonas Philharmonic Manaus, Orchestra dell ‘Arena di Verona, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico and orchestras in China, the UAE, the US and Japan. As an opera conductor, Reinhard Seehafer conducted around 800 performances of more than 40 different operas. His repertoire ranges from the traditional to new productions and premieres such as La Boheme, Margarete, Tosca, La Traviata, Fidelio, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Otello, Der Freischütz, Turandot, etc. As a pianist and chamber music partner he has concertized Reinhard Seehafer in France, Poland, Austria, Slovakia and Italy with soloists of Berlin’s Opera Houses, the Semperoper Dresden, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Gewandhaus Quartet Leipzig and famous German actors. In his compositional work, Seehafer has dedicated himself to various genres and styles. In addition to chamber music and opera, large symphonic works hold a central position in its activities as a composer. His major works include the orchestra composition “Parable” called after Lessing’s “Nathan the Wise”, the Piano Trio “Six variations sur une heme des trouveres”, “Amadeus-Fantasy”, “Land of Enchantment”,Piano Quintet, Piano Trio “Schulenburg”. In 2007, Reinhard Seehafer created a newly reconstructed version of Germany’s first opera, “Dafne” which was lost during the Thirty Years’ War. From 2009 – 2012 he was appointed the composer-in-residence by SAP Symphony in Germany. In 2010 he was awarded the Gellert Prize for his extraordinary artistic accomplishments in Germany.
