THE CONDUCTOR
MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
It was with a prize in the 1978 International ARD Competition in Munich that Michael
Schneider begann his solo career as a recorder player. In 1979 he became a founding
member of the long-standing chamber music ensemble Cologne Camerata. Since 1988 he
has been the conductor and musical director of the baroque orchestra 'La Stagione
Frankfurt'. Around 100 CD recordings in the genres of opera, oratorio, symphonic literature
and as a recorder soloist document Michael Schneider's versatility in historically informed
performance practice.
As a guest conductor he has been engaged by the Capella Coloniensis, the Handel
Festival Orchestra in Halle/Saale, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Bielefeld and
Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra as well as with
the Stuttgart and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. He has directed opera productions with
works of Handel, Hasse, Keiser, Monteverdi and Telemann in the opera houses of
Bielefeld, Magdeburg, Giessen, Osnabruck and Darmstadt as well as with the Handel
Festivals in Gottingen and Halle/Saale.
In 1980 Michael Schneider was appointed Professor at the University of Arts in Berlin;
since 1983 he has been the director of the 'Institute for Historically Informed Performance
Practice' at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main, developing a
separate
master's degree for the Institute. In 2000 he was awarded the Telemann Prize of
the City of Magdeburg for his services to the work of Telemann.
