He recently concluded his tenure as Music Director at the Prague State Opera, where he conducted productions including Der fliegende Holländer and Schreker’s Der ferne Klang, amongst others. There he also launched the four-year Musica non Grata project, dedicated to works by composers suppressed by 20^th-century totalitarian regimes, which included a major festival marking the 150^th anniversary of Alexander Zemlinsky. Elsewhere, Steffens has led performances at Teatro alla Scala (Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Götterdämmerung) and is a regular guest at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden. At the Norwegian National Opera, he conducted the Norwegian premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande alongside productions of Così fan tutte, Fidelio, and Calixto Bieito’s Tosca.

In his previous position as Music Director of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Steffens and the orchestra were honoured with many accolades; they received the ECHO award for Best Orchestra in 2015 for their recording of works by B.A. Zimmermann and in 2016/17 were nominated prize-winners of the Best Concert Programme of the Season by the Deutsche Musikverlegerverband, the German Music Publishers’ Association. Their recording of works by George Antheil, an addition to their extensive Modern Times series featuring an array of 20^th century composers, was named Concert Recording of the Year by the Opus Klassik awards. 

Prior to his conducting career, Steffens was a highly respected solo clarinettist who also held several orchestral positions culminating in the successive posts of Principal Clarinet with the Bavarian Radio and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. He was recently awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz, Germany’s Federal Cross of Merit, in recognition of his outstanding services to music.