He studied the piano and the oboe in Strasbourg. In 1960, on the advice of Pierre Boulez, he moved to Darmstadt to study under Bruno Maderna. From 1962 to 1969, he devoted himself exclusively to composition. During this period he composed the Suite Intemporelle for narrator and 8 instruments (1961) and Combat T.3N, which was commissioned by the Donaueschingen Festival in 1962. In 1965, he composed Triple et Trajectoire for piano and 2 orchestras, which was premiered at the Strasbourg Festival.

His encounter with Michel Butor in 1972 was a defining moment for René Koering. Dilaby pour grand orchestre and Centre d’écoute for magnetic tape date back to this very year. At the Royan Festival he also premiered Quatuor à cordes n°1 in 1974 and Mahler in 1975, based on texts by Michel Butor narrated with Orchestre National de France. Other compositions of interest include the following: 34 mesures pour un portrait de T... in 1976, and Lointain Soleil des Morts, both premiered in Venice and Paris with Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sonate pour piano, premiered in Boston in 1976 (Herbert Henck), the opera Elseneur based on Michel Butor’s libretto (Radio France’s premiered in 1980) and Quatuor à cordes n°2 (Biennale premiere in Venice with Quatuor Arditti in 1981).

In December 1992, premiere of the Violin Concerto with Pierre Amoyal and the Orchestre National de Lyon, conducted by Lawrence Foster. In May 1992, Trois Grands lieder for orchestra, with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Montpellier Languedoc­Roussillon conducted by Gianfranco Masini. In 1993, premiere of Fragments de songe for violin and string orchestra with Pierre Amoyal, the Soloists of Montpellier­Moscou and premiere of Les Oiseaux dans la Tourmente with the soloists of Montpellier­Moscou conducted by Friede­ mann Layer. In January 1994, premiere of his opera Marie de Montpellier at the Montpellier Opera. In November 1995, premiere of Le Cercle-Kleist with Madame Hildegard Behrens and Armin Jordan. Premiere in July 2001 of the 3rd String Quartet (Portrait de Francis Bacon en cardinal) by Quatuor Danel. In March 2008, world premiere at the Berlioz Opera Theatre (Montpellier) of Scènes de chasse, directed by Georges Lavaudant and conducted by Alain Altinoglu. In 2011, his opera La Marquise d’O was commissioned and premiered at the Monte­Carlo Opera.

René Koering has directed several operas, including Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, La Prova di un’opera seria by Gnecco, Orfeo by Monteverdi/ Maderna, Aida by Verdi, L’Armide imaginaire by Cimarosa, l’Arlésienn e by Cilea and La Vedova Scaltra by Wolf­Ferrari, Callirhoé by Destouches, Eine florentinis- che Tragödie by Alexander von Zemlinsky, Faust by Gounod, La Voix humaine by Poulenc, Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy, Die Zauberflöte by Mozart.