German conductor Werner Andreas Albert began his studies in musicology and history, only later studying conducting with Herbert von Karajan and Hans Rosbaud. After his 1961 debut with the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra, he became chief conductor of the North West German Philharmonic Orchestra. He later served as chief conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon and the Nuremberg Symphony in Germany. He is also the permanent guest conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestras in Cologne, Frankfurt, and Berlin, and of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Since 1981, Albert has regularly conducted in Australia, particularly with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, of which he was named principal conductor in 1995. He has toured and recorded extensively, devoting himself to some previously unexplored music. He has recorded the complete orchestral repertoire of Hindemith, Korngold, Pfitzner, and Benjamin Frankel. He has also recorded symphonic and operatic works by Siegfried Wagner. He has been chief conductor of the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra for more than 20 years and is also senior lecturer of the Meistersinger Conservatorium in Nuremberg. He was appointed adjunct professor of the University of Queensland.