Peter Schneider

Peter Schneider, born in 1939 in Vienna, Austria, is an Austrian conductor specializing in German operatic repertoire. He was a member of the Vienna Boys' Choir and studied composition and conducting at the Academy of Music in Vienna under Karl Schiske and Hans Swarowsky. He began his career at age 20 as a répétiteur at the Landestheater Salzburg and served as Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater Heidelberg from 1961 to 1968. He became First Kapellmeister at Deutsche Oper am Rhein and directed the Bremen Philharmonic from 1978 to 1985. Schneider made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 1981 directing Der fliegende Holländer, and subsequently directed Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde. In 1997, he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, first class.