Dirk Hirthe was born in Germany. After his studies with George A. Monch and Prof. Jens Björn-Larsen he played one year at the state opera in stuttgart. Since 2008 he been the tuba player of the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe and is regularly invited to perform with the leading orchestras in Germany. He has also played with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Lucerne Festival Brass Ensemble as a guest member. As a soloist he has appeared with the Museums Orchester Frankfurt, the Bochumer Sinfoniker, the Badische Staatskapelle amongst others.
Since 2014 Dirk is the Professor for Tuba at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe. Many of his students have won international competitions and play in orchestras across Europe.
Dirk has given masterclasses at universities in almost every country in Europe including: Conservatoire Superiore Paris, Hochschule für Kunst und Musik Wien, Mozarteum Universität Salzburg, Musikhochschule Krakow and Musikhochschule Vilnius.
Dirk performs on tubas from the German brass manufacturer, Miraphone, and since 2014 he has helped them to develop their tubas. He particularly helped them with the development of their Elektra model F Tuba and their Hagen model B Tuba. Dirk became an official Miraphone Artist in 2015