Born 1979, raised in Schwerin. Studies in musicology and classics (Greek) at the Universities of Rostock, Marburg, Salzburg and at the FU Berlin (1997-2002). Research assistant and assistant professor at the Institute for Musicology at University of Zurich (2003-2010); Dr. phil. about Athanasius Kircher´s “Musurgia universalis” (2005) and Habilitation “Melancholy in instrumental music around 1800” (2009). Professor of musicology at University of Music Lübeck (2010) and Professor for sociology and historical anthropology of music at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2011-2013). Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics since 2013.