Silke Löhr is the Academic Music Director (AMD) of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf and conductor of the University Orchestra and Choir. She studied music and mathematics in Cologne (Germany) as well as orchestral conducting in Utrecht (Netherlands). After graduating with high honors she furthered her education by attending master classes with Sir Simon Rattle, Kurst Masur, Peter Eötvös, Jorma Panula, Helmuth Rilling, Eric Ericson and others. She was supported by the conductor’s panel of the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat). From 2003-2005 Silke Löhr worked as an assistant at the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland in Hilversum. As recipient of a scholarship by the orchestral academy in 1999/2000 she conducted several concerts with the Bergisch Symphonic Orchestra. In 1999 she received a sponsorship award by the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia. She has conducted a number of orchestras, such as the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Orchestra Cologne, the Radio Kamer Orkest and Radio Symphonie Orkest of the Dutch broadcasting service, the Rhein Philharmony in Koblenz, and at the musikfabrik NRW, the Oldenburg Theater and the Komische Oper in Berlin.