In recent years, Sebastian Heindl has become one of the most sought-after concert organists internationally. As an "ECHO Rising Star", he has performed on Europe’s most prestigious stages – including the Vienna Musikverein, the Barbican Centre in London, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Numerous international concert tours have taken him to almost every European country as well as to Canada, the USA and Russia.
His engaging charisma and artistic willingness to experiment have made him a crowd-puller and ambassador for his instrument, capable of inspiring many people to appreciate the organ in concert halls, churches and online alike. Sebastian Heindl appears in a wide variety of contexts as a performer of classical music, improviser, composer, arranger, jazz musician and ensemble leader.
Since 2023, he has been working as an organist and church musician at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin, where he makes a vibrant contribution to the cultural landscape of the capital. Here, he serves as artistic director of the International Organ Summer and the InSpirit Jazz Festival and is the founder and director of the chamber choir Ensemble Memoria. He maintains a lively collaboration with various renowned ensembles in Berlin, including the Berlin Philharmonic, with whom he made his debut in 2024/25, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the RIAS Kammerchor, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Komische Oper.
Sebastian Heindl received his basic musical training at the historic St Thomas Choir (Thomanerchor) in Leipzig, where he held the position of "Praefectus organus". He subsequently studied church music at the Leipzig University of Music under Martin Schmeding (organ) and Thomas Lennartz (improvisation), as well as choral conducting under Tobias Löbner, Gregor Meyer and Thomaskantor Andreas Reize. He conducted Bach cantatas during church services in Leipzig and conducted Joseph Haydn’s "The Creation" with the University Choir and the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra. During his training, Sebastian Heindl benefited from the wealth of historic organs in Central Germany and acquired a comprehensive knowledge of historical performance practice.
In 2019, he won the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition in the USA, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious organ competitions worldwide. He was a prize-winner at other organ competitions such as the International Organ Week in Nuremberg and the Gottfried Silbermann Organ Competition in Freiberg.
His debut CD on the Rondeau label, which was released when he was only 17 years old, was enthusiastically received by critics. At a young age, he made a guest appearance in Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s BBC documentary "Bach – A Passionate Life". He has made numerous radio recordings as well as audio and video productions for MDR, Deutschlandfunk, rbb, the BBC and Radio France. Sebastian Heindl has been a frequent guest at the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, produced high-quality content on his own YouTube and social media channels for a large global community of followers.