“Febel plays with timbres with virtuosity […]. One moment it’s jazzy, the next it’s groovy, and then again there are rhythmically very intricate passages […]. Yet it never descends into banality or kitsch,” wrote BR Klassik in praise of Reinhard Febel’s latest opera, “Benjamin Button,” which premiered on April 27, 2024, at the Landestheater Linz. Reinhard Febel is one of the most prolific contemporary composers and is best known for his operas and music theater works. These include, among others, “Euridice” at the Bavarian State Opera (1983), “Sekunden und Jahre das Kaspar Hauser” at the Theater Dortmund (1992), “Besuchszeit” at the Theater Bonn (2001), and “Raum 17” at the Kiel Opera (2009), for some of which he also wrote the libretti.

Reinhard Febel studied composition in Freiburg im Breisgau with Klaus Huber and took courses in electronic music at IRCAM in Paris. After six years working as a freelance composer in London, he assumed the professorship in composition and music theory at the University of Music and Drama in Hanover in 1989. Since 1997, he has been a professor of composition at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

In addition, Reinhard Febel spent a great deal of time abroad on study visits, teaching assignments, and composition commissions. These included guest lectures in New Zealand, Latvia, and South Korea; composition courses in South America; workshops in the U.S. and Japan; and a master class in composition at the Salzburg Summer Academy, to name just a few.
He has also authored several literary works, including two collections of short stories and two novels.