Originally First Concertmaster of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and regular guest leader with orchestras including the Philharmonia and London Symphony Orchestras, Sir Colin Davis recommended him for the prestigious Vienna Music Academy where he studied in the conducting class of Leopold Hager. Two years later, he gave his conducting debut in Japan with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent and upcoming engagement highlights include the Bamberger Symphoniker, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and Tonhalle St Gallen. He has toured with the Kammerorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Italy, Switzerland and Spain with acclaimed soloists such as Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin and Sabine Meyer. He made an enthusiastically received debut in the ‘Goldener Saal’ of the Musikverein, Vienna. Early in 2007 he stepped in at very short notice to conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, making such a success of the programme that reviewers hailed the event "not so much a loss as an extraordinary revelation". The CBSO immediately re-invited him for the following season.