Biography
Hans Graf
Known for his intensely musical interpretations of a wide range of repertoire and creative programming, the distinguished Austrian conductor, Hans Graf, is one of today's most highly respected musicians.
Currently the Music Director of the Houston Symphony, a post for which he was unanimously chosen in September 2000, Mr. Graf completed his eighth and final season as Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic in May 2003 and concluded a six year tenure as Music Director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine in June 2004.
Hans Graf is a much sought after guest conductor in North America and has led the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Toronto and Montreal among many others and participated in this country's prestigious festivals including Blossom, Aspen, Wolftrap and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. Over the past decade he has developed a close relationship with the Boston Symphony and appears regularly with the orchestra both during the subscription season and at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Houston Symphony in January 2006 and returned to Carnegie leading the Orchestra of St. Luke's in March 2007.
During the 07/08 season, Mr. Graf returns to the Cleveland Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the National, Detroit, Cincinnati, Dallas, Atlanta and Baltimore symphonies. During the summer, he leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in two concerts at the Bravo Colorado Festival in Vail and makes his annual appearance at Tanglewood.
Internationally, Hans Graf conducts in the major concert halls of Europe, Japan and Australia and has appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra as well as with the St. Petersburg, Czech and Israel Philharmonics. In addition he has participated in such prestigious European festivals as the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bregenz, Aix en Provence, Orange and Savonlinna in Finland and appeared at the Salzburg Festival for twelve consecutive seasons. During the 07/08 season, Mr. Graf leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra in Berlin and the Leipzig Radio Orchestra.
An experienced opera conductor, Mr. Graf first conducted the Vienna State Opera in 1981 and has since led productions in the opera houses of Berlin, Munich, Paris and Rome. His extensive opera repertoire includes several world premieres. Recent and upcoming opera engagements include conducting Parsifal at the Zurich Opera and Boris Godunov at the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg.
Born in 1949 near Linz, Hans Graf studied violin and piano as a child. He entered the Musikhochschule in Graz in 1967 from which he received diplomas in piano and conducting and continued his conducting studies with Franco Ferrara in Siena, Sergiu Celibidache in Bologna and Arvid Jansons in Weimar and Leningrad. In 1975-76, Mr. Graf served as the Music Director of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra in Baghdad and the following year began coaching at the Vienna State Opera. His international career was launched in 1979 when he was awarded first prize at the Karl Bohm Competition. Mr. Graf was appointed Music Director of the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra in 1984, a post he held for ten years.
Hans Graf's discography includes the complete symphonies of Mozart and Schubert and the premiere recording of Zemlinsky's opera Es war einmal. He has recorded for the EMI, Orfeo, Erato, Capriccio and JVC labels while his most recent releases are the complete works of Dutilleux for BMG Arte Nova. A disc of works by Bartok and Stravinsky with the Houston Symphony was released by Koch International in November 2005 and in the fall of 2007, he will record the Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony with the orchestra for Naxos.
In June 2002, Mr. Graf was awarded the Chevalier de l'ordre de la Legion d'Honneur by the French government for championing French music around the world.