Ulrich Brassel studied musical education and German literature as well as choral and orchestral conducting and piano in Cologne and Detmold. Between 1985 and 1996, Ulrich worked as choir conductor and church musician in the former capital of Bonn. In that time, he regularly gave concerts at the organ and as conductor of soloist ensembles, choirs and orchestras. Since 1996, Ulrich is teaching music and German at the Pius-Gymnasium in Aachen, which has now been under his direction for several years. In the same year, he founded the Pius big band, from which three independent ensembles have emerged in the meantime. As a composer and arranger he is responsible for several musical productions, and as an author and editor he has been working with questions of music education for many years. Concert tours have taken him to Great Britain and Eastern Europe several times. Ulrich Brassel has been directing the Cappella Aquensis since 2018.