Born in Sankt Florian, Weikert studied at the Bruckner conservatory in Linz and the Hochschule für Musik und darstel lende Kunst Wien, conducting with Hans Swarowsky. Weikert was from 1971 a regular conductor at the Salzburg Festival. He held leading positions at the Theater Bonn and the Oper Frankfurt. From 1981 to 1984, he was Chefdirigent of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. From 1983 to 1992, he was Musikdirektor at the Opern haus Zürich. He has been a professor of conducting at the Musikhochschule Luzern from 2008.