Born in Ried/Austria, Meissl studied at MdW – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Gerhart Hetzel, and Hatto Beyerle. He graduated with distinction and a special award from the ministry.

In1982 he joined the Artis Quartet. After further studies with the LaSalle Quartet in the US and several competition prizes, the ensemble established an international career, still performing in the same line-up. Concerts at prestigious series and festivals worldwide, awards for over 40 recordings (Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, Echo, Midem Classics, etc.) and the “Artis Series” as part of the official annual programme of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde at the Musikverein in Vienna (running since 1988) bear witness to the international standing of the ensemble. 
 

Meissl also performs in solo recitals and in open chamber projects, and he has achieved success as a conductor. 
 

Since 1992 Meissl has been teaching at the MdW, since 2004 as a university professor for chamber music. Meissl has been serving as the Vice Rector for International Affairs and Art of this top-ranking university since October 2019. Prior to this, he headed mdw’s Joseph Haydn Department of Chamber Music and served as president of the Senate of the MdW. 
 

Meissl is artistic director of the isa – International Summer Academy of MdW and artistic co-director of the ECMA (European Chamber Music Academy). He gives master classes worldwide and he is very active within the Musethica project, which is combining intensive performance training with social outreach and community engagement. 
 

For more than 30 years, Meissl has been an influential teacher and a mentor for generations of young chamber musicians and ensembles.

His students won first prizes at leading international competitions and succeeded in establishing sustainable careers. For a number of his former student ensembles’ acclaimed recordings (Midem Classics, Echo.) he also acted as an artistic producer.