Born in Unna (Germany), Sebastian Tewinkel initially studied the violin alongside general music studies at the Hanover University of Music and Drama, and subsequently conducting with Thomas Ungar at the Stuttgart University of Music.
After his studies Tewinkel went on to win two important competitions: in 2000 he received the first (and only given) prize at the International Conducting Competition of the foundation “Fundação Oriente” in Lisbon, and in 2001 he won the Conductor`s Award in Bad Homburg.
As a guest conductor he directed concerts as well as CD and radio productions with numerous orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Bamberg Symphony, the Munich Philharmonic and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Further afield, Sebastian Tewinkel conducted the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, the St Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Recently he has made regular appearances with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Hamamatsu Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Orquestra Ciudad de Granada.
In the field of opera, Tewinkel conducted works including Mozarts “Le Nozze di Figaro” in Gelsenkirchen, the “Magic Flute” in Würzburg, a new production of “The Fairy Queen” by Henry Purcell in Bregenz as well as Wagner`s “Tannhäuser” in Hagen.
From 2002-2013, Sebastian Tewinkel served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the South-West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim and held the same position with the Chamber Philharmonic Graubünden in Chur from 2009-15.
In 2010, Sebastian Tewinkel became Professor for orchestral conducting at the University for Music in Trossingen/Germany.
In 2012 he was awarded the highly prestigious “Echo-Classic” prize for the Sony Classical-production of cello concertos with Maximilian Hornung and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
From 2015-2023 season Sebastian Tewinkel held the position as General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic. He ist currently Music Director of the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra Bad Brückenau.