Born in
Heidelberg, Windfuhr grew up as the son of the
Heine researcher and editor , first in his hometown and later in Düsseldorf. From 1978 Windfuhr studied orchestral conducting in Cologne, Vienna and Florence and attended master classes with
Franco Ferrara,
Carlo Maria Giulini,
Gennady Rozhdestvensky,
Leonard Bernstein and
Günter Ludwig. In 1985 Windfuhr won the International Conducting Competition Vittorio Gui and in 1986 the International Conducting Competition Janos Ferencic in Budapest. He received his first engagement in 1986 as a répétiteur with conducting duties at the
Theater Dortmund, in 1989 he went to the
Theater Augsburg as the second
Kapellmeister and director of studies, in 1990 as the first coordinated Kapellmeister to the then Opera House, today's
Staatstheater Nürnberg. In 1993 he received his engagement as first Kapellmeister at the . Two years later he was engaged as first conductor and deputy general
music director at the
Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, again one year later he became provisional general music director there. From 1998 to 2003, Windfuhr worked alongside Director-General
Kirsten Harms as music director of the
stages of the State Capital Kiel. With productions of Richard Strauss' operas such as
Die schweigsame Frau and
Die Liebe der Danae, a cycle of
Franz Schreker's operas as well as the
Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner, he attracted international attention together with the opera house. His concert career has taken him from the beginning of his career through Europe (Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary) and to the USA; as an opera conductor he has appeared on renowned German stages, including the
Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg, at the Opera Bonn, at the
Mannheim National Theatre and at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin. At the Kiel Opera Windfuhr recorded for the label
Classic Production Osnabrück among others,
Flammen,
Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin and
Christophorus oder Die Vision einer Oper by Franz Schreker as well as
Donna Diana by Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek. In 2003 he was awarded the
Diapason d'Or and the "Choc de la Musique" for his CD
Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin as well as the Quarterly Prize of the German Record Critics; in 2005 he received the Orphée d'Or for his CD
Die Liebe der Danae. From 2007 to 2013 Windfuhr was Professor of Conducting at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, where his students included
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. In 2013, he was appointed professor of conducting and orchestral conducting at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. In 2014, Windfuhr was named a member of the
Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg. ==References==