Daniel Barenboim is one of the most eminent artists of our time. As a pianist and conductor, he has performed in all major European cities and across the globe for decades; as the founder of countless musical, social and educational projects, his contribution has been invaluable.

Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires in 1942. He first received piano lessons from his mother at the age of five and later studied with his father, who was to remain his only piano teacher. He gave his first public concert at the age of seven. He moved to Israel with his parents in 1952. At the age of ten, Daniel Barenboim made his international debut as a solo pianist in Vienna and Rome, followed by Paris, London and New York. Since then, he has regularly toured Europe and the USA as well as South America, Australia and the Far East.

At the age of eleven, Daniel Barenboim took part in conducting courses in Salzburg with Igor Markevitch. In 1955 and 1956, he studied harmony and composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Since his conducting debut in 1967 in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim has been in demand with all the world's leading orchestras. Between 1975 and 1989 he was chief conductor of the Orchestre de Paris, and from 1991 to 2006 he was chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Daniel Barenboim made his debut as an opera conductor at the Edinburgh Festival in 1973. From 1981 to 1999, he conducted at the Bayreuth Festival.

In 1992 he became Chief Musical Director of the Staatsoper unter den Linden and remained in this position until the end of January 2023. In 2000 the Staatskapelle Berlin made him Chief Conductor for life. Between 2007 and 2014, he regularly conducted at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he became Maestro Scaligero in 2011.

Together with the Palestinian literary scholar Edward Said, Daniel Barenboim founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999, bringing together young musicians from Israel and the Arab countries. Over the past 25 years, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has established itself as an acclaimed ensemble that regularly performs in many concert venues in Europe and around the world. From 2015, talented young musicians from the Middle East have also been studying at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, another initiative founded by Daniel Barenboim. Daniel Barenboim has been honoured with numerous major international awards and has published several books.