Viennese born Sascha Goetzel trained as a violinist, graduated with honors from the University of Music in Graz (Austria), and immediately joined the ranks of the Vienna Philharmonic as a ‘permanent substitute' in the orchestra's first violin section. This enabled him for more than a decade to work at close quarters with many of the world's greatest conductors, and to consolidate his decision to take up the baton. Personal coachings followed: with Zubin Mehta, who described him as "highly talented, musically and technically", with Riccardo Muti, who pronounced him "an enthusiastic, extraordinarily talented musician", with Seiji Ozawa, who invited him to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Festival and called him "a young committed musician who strives for the highest levels of musical excellence". A stint at the Sibelius Academy in Finland under the tuition of the legendary Jorma Panula (who says of him "his unique personality and most professional attitude make him a convincing but at the same time passionate young conductor") further strengthened and confirmed Goetzel's decision to concentrate exclusively on his conducting career.

A Conducting Fellowship Award at the Tanglewood Music Festival and a Rotary International Scholarship Award enabled him to extend the experience he had gathered in his native Austria, where he has conducted the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus. In the meantime Mr. Goetzel has made successful debuts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Shanghai Symphony, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Hannover, the NHK Orchestra, the Bratislava Radio Symphony, the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Toyota Master Players, in a wide spectrum of repertoire, including several world premières. Viennese music is in his blood; with the Baltimore and Toronto Symphony orchestras he has delighted North American audiences in this repertoire.

Alongside his symphonic work Sascha Goetzel has also substantially extended his work in the field of opera, leading performances at the Vienna State Opera (Pinocchio), the Vienna Volksoper (Bluebeard), as Associate Conductor at the Los Angeles Opera (Nicholas and Alexandra) and at the Tyrolean State Theatre, where he led the acclaimed new productions of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte. He has worked together with Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Mstislav Rostropovich, Anna Netrebko, Josè Cura, Thomas Hampson, Uto Ughi, Akiko Suwanai and Rudolf Buchbinder.

Time spent as Music and Artistic Director of the Austrian-Korean Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna and Conductor in Residence of the Pacific Music Festival in Japan has consolidated his enthusiastic symphonic connections with Asia. Other concert engagements this season include his debut with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, return engagements to Luxembourg and Kuopio, to Transylvania, Neuss with the Tonkünstler Orchestra, and concerts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerakademie, the Ambassade Orchestra, and the K & K Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 2007-2008 season Sascha Goetzel will conduct a new production of Nutcracker at the Vienna State Opera and a new production of Léhar's Land of Smiles at the Vienna Volksoper, the Basel Symphony, and the Kyushu Symphony in Japan.

Sascha Goetzel has led numerous performances with TV and radio broadcasts and has made a CD-recording for the Koch Classics label including works by Nino Rota and Max Bruch. Besides his work as a conductor and violinist he is a successful music arranger for various ensembles and artists such as José Carreras, Ramòn Vargas, the Ensemble Wien and the NTO-Orchestra. Several of his arrangements have been recorded and released by BMG and Deutsche Grammophon.