Raised in a family where singing canons while walking through the woods felt as natural as breathing, Rafaela Seywald has always been driven by the desire to bring people together through music. Trained as a conductor, pianist, and singer, she currently works as maestra suggeritrice (prompter-conductor) and stage music conductor at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, collaborating with conductors such as Marco Armiliato, Adam Fischer, and Vladimir Jurowski.

Recent engagements include conducting the Sofia National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Szolnok Symphony Orchestra, and the Bavarian Classics Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, she will make her debut with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, conducting Wilfried Hiller’s Tranquilla Trampeltreu / Der Lindwurm und der Schmetterling. In addition to her work on the podium, Rafaela is a dedicated répétiteur, chamber musician, and Lied accompanist, frequently performing with her sister, violinist Alexandra Maria Seywald.

Since 2016, she has conceived and led her own projects for orchestra and choir, ranging from a cappella works and large-scale masses to orchestral concerts and opera productions. She has appeared with ensembles such as the Webern Chamber Choir of the mdw (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), the Austrian National Youth Choir, the Webern Sinfonietta, the Contemporary Ensemble of the mdw, and the Youth Orchestra Tulln.

With a particular passion for opera and interdisciplinary projects, Rafaela has served as maestra suggeritrice at the Wiener Staatsoper (2019, 2021) and at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2025. In collaboration with stage director Adriana Hernandez Flores, she created the award-winning mockumentary Remember me: A film-opera rendition of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, which blends classical opera with contemporary dance and electronic music.

Rafaela Seywald holds a degree in piano pedagogy from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she later studied orchestral conducting with Mark Stringer and Sian Edwards, and choral conducting with Alois Glaßner. She has participated in masterclasses with Marin Alsop, Mark Heron, Josep Vila i Casañas, and Johannes Prinz (conducting), as well as Christopher Hinterhuber and Arbo Valdma (piano). In 2021, she spent an exchange semester at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

She is a first-prize winner both as a soloist and chamber musician at Austria’s national youth competition prima la musica, and in 2020 was awarded the Sylff Fellowship of the Tokyo Foundation for her work in conducting.