Maestro Michael Koehler was born in the musical city of Dresden, Germany. After spending his early years in Dresden as solo pianist, he studied sound engineering and orchestra conducting in Berlin. After his graduation from the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin (class of GMD Prof. Rolf Reuter, Berlin State Opera) he continued his studies with Maestro Sergiu Celibidache in Munich and at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. He participated in master-classes with Kurt Masur, Gerd Albrecht, Rolf Reuter and at the Yehudi-Menuhin-Academy, Gstaad among others.

Radio and TV like ARD, ZDF, RAI, Russian TV 1, CCTV, Indian National TV i.e. have covered his activities. He has conducted numerous orchestras across in Europe, Asia and America (USA, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Russia, China, South Korea, India, Brasil, Mexico and Latin America).

Michael Koehler is presenting brilliant concerts as the Artistic Director and Music Director of the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra since 2000. The audiences have been drawn by his imagination and innovativeness. In 2008, he was chosen as the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Festival Internazionale della Cultura in Bergamo (Italy). In 2010 he was appointed conductor and professor at the SMU University in Seoul (Korea). In 2019, he was appointed General Music Director of the Shanxi Symphony Orchestra in Taiyuan/China.

He regularly accompanies renowned and internationally recognized soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Staatskapelle and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Guy Braunstein, Lothar Strauß, Christian Funke and Michael Barenboim). Recent recordings are released by Sony Music. Frequently, he is conducting great operas like Carmen, L´elisir d´amore, La traviata, Il trovatore, Turandot, Tosca i.e. in Spain, South Korea and Mexico.

In addition to his performing career, he dedicates a part of his time to teaching. Since 1998, he has been working at the Leipzig University of Music and Drama „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ as Head of the Orchestra, Orchestra Conductor and teacher.  He wrote his thesis in musicology at the Humboldt University of Berlin and was conferred the title of Doctor Philosophiae in 2000. In 2017, he was appointed professor at the Shanxi University in Taiyuan/China.