Cologne-born violinist and conductor Werner Ehrhardt is a regular guest conductor on international stages. He received his training in historical performance practice from Prof. Franzjosef Maier, Cologne, Sigiswald Kuijken, Brussels and in conducting from Prof. Karl-Heinz Bloemeke in Detmold and also studied with Kato Havas, Oxford and Prof. Renate Peter, Cologne.  

From 1985 to 2005, Werner Ehrhardt conducted the world-renowned chamber orchestra Concerto Köln, with which he developed and shaped a characteristic interpretation style of historical performance practice. In 2004, he founded the orchestra l’arte del mondo and, as a freelance conductor, also turned to traditional orchestras and has since performed with great success with, among others, the Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Potsdam Chamber Academy, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Giessen Philharmonic Orchestra, Vojvođanski Simfonijski Orkestar, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.  

Over 60 award-winning CD recordings of opera, oratorio and concertante symphonic repertoire have been made under his direction. Among the recordings are a number of rediscoveries of forgotten composers; in 2018, dhm/Sony released selected symphonies by Anton Zimmermann, in 2019 dhm/Sony released the recording of Salieri’s opera “La Fiera di Venezia” and in 2020 the world premiere recording of the opera “Scherz, List und Rache” by P.C. Kayser based on a libretto by J.W. von Goethe. In 2021, a joint album with l’arte del mondo and violist Nils Mönkemeyer was released on Sony Classical. In 2023, the world premiere recordings of symphonies by Joseph Aloys Schmittbaur and the opera by Giuseppe Gazzaniga “L’isola d’Alcina” were released by Sony/dhm. In 2024, the second world premiere recording of symphonies by Anton Zimmermann was released.

Werner Ehrhardt regularly works with soloists such as Nils Mönkemeyer, Xavier de Maistre, Daniel Hope, Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Müller-Schott and Dorothee Oberlinger.