Being Claudio Abbado's assitant for 3 years, Henrik Schaefer conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in works such as Tristan, Parsifal and Falstaff, as well as Mahler and Bruckner symphonies.

He started his conducting career with a new production of Le Sacre du Printemps with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and the Leipzig Ballett, and was re-invited to conduct a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro in addition.

Henrik Schaefer is currently Chief Conductor of the Värmlands Opera in Sweden and Principal Guest Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra in Japan.

His operatic repertoire includes Le Nozze di Figaro (Leipzig and Göteborg), Eugene Onegin (Chemnitz), Faust (Seoul), Parsifal (Karlstad), Dialogues des Carmélites (Den Haag), La Bohème (Karlstad), Cosi fan tutte (Den Haag), and Die Zauberflöte (Hedeland & Göteborg).

Next season Henrik Schaefer will conduct 5 full Ring cycles in Karlstad, Sweden.

Henrik Schaefer is a regular guest with the great symphonic repertoire with Norrköping Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan, New Japan Philharmonic, Holland Symfonia, BBC Scottish, Osaka Philharmonic, Flemish Symphony, Hiroshima Symphony, Teatro Regio di Torino, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Dutch Radio Symphony and Chamber Symphony, Orchestre de l'Opera de Rouen, Sapporo Symphony, and Helsingborg Symphony.

This season he will made his debut with the Tromsö Symphony (Norway), the Aalborg Symphony (Denmark), the Orkest van het Oosten, and the Netherlands Philharmonic (The Netherlands).