Ulf Schirmer, born in Eschenhausen near Bremen, studied at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre with Horst Stein, Christoph von Dohnányi, and György Ligeti. In 1980, he secured his first position at the National Theatre Mannheim. His professional path then led him to the Vienna State Opera, where he worked as an assistant to Lorin Maazel. As a resident conductor, he led numerous premieres. From 1988 to 1991, Schirmer was General Music Director in Wiesbaden and Artistic Director for the symphony concerts at the Hessian State Theatre. From 1991, he served as resident conductor at the Vienna State Opera and in the following years also as a consultant for the opera house.

In 1995, he became chief conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen, where he remained until 1998. In 2000, Schirmer was appointed professor of musical analysis and musical dramaturgy at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. From 2006 to 2017, he was artistic director of the Munich Radio Orchestra. In his concert activities, he also worked with the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, the Vienna and Bamberg Symphony Orchestras, the Dresden State Orchestra, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

From 2009, he served as General Music Director and from 2011 until the end of July 2022, he was also the Intendant (General Director) of the Leipzig Opera. There he conducted numerous productions including Carmen, Hänsel and Gretel, La bohème, Lohengrin, Das Rheingold, The Magic Flute, Elektra, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Macbeth, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. With Wagner 22, a complete cycle of all Richard Wagner’s works, he established his international reputation as a conductor and opera administrator.

He has had numerous engagements at the Bregenz and Salzburg Festivals, Vienna State Opera, Graz Opera, Paris Opéra Bastille, La Scala Milan, as well as performances in Tokyo, Geneva, and Israel. He has enjoyed major successes with operas including Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, Die Frau ohne Schatten, La bohème, Nabucco, Fidelio, Der fliegende Holländer, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Greek Passion, Lulu, and Die Vögel, as well as with the world premiere of Tod und Teufel by Gerd Kühr.

In the 2024/25 season, he will return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducting among others Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. On the concert stage this season, he can be heard, for example, with the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra performing Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie.