Nabil Shehata was born in Kuwait in 1980.

His family moved to Germany when he was 4. At the age of 9, he began studying the double bass.

In 2003, he became the first double bass player to win the challenging ARD International Music Competition in Munich, and also won the audience award. In the same year, he was invited by Daniel Barenboim to take up the post of principal double bass player for the Berlin State Opera.

In the following year, he took up the same post for the Berlin Philharmonic, in which he was active until 2008.

He has long been a member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which promotes the coexistence of Israel and the Arab world.

In 2007, he became a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, and in addition to teaching master classes in Europe, Israel, and Japan, he also teaches at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy.

Shehata has also studied conducting under the guidance of Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann, and made a highly praised debut as a conductor in 2007.

In 2008, he was invited by Gustavo Dudamel to conduct the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, to great success.

In recent years, he has also directed the Toulouse Capitol National Orchestra, the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra.

In 2011, he was appointed Music Director of the Munich Chamber Opera.