Stefan Sanderling was born in East Berlin in 1964, the son of legendary conductor Kurt Sanderling. He studied musicology at the University of Halle and conducting at the conservatory in Leipzig before continuing his studies at the University of Southern California. After the fall of the iron curtain, he returned to his native Germany, where his career ascended rapidly.

Sanderling has conducted such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester and St Petersburg Philharmonic. He has guest conducted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Komische Oper Berlin. He made his début in Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and in Japan with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

Since his North American début at the 1989 Tanglewood Summer Music Festival, he has forged a successful career for himself in the United States, serving as music director of The Florida Orchestra from 2002–2012, and now holds the positions of conductor emeritus and artistic advisor of The Florida Orchestra and principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.