Hans Graf

Austrian-born Hans Graf is one of the most active conductors of his generation. In addition to simultaneously holding positions as music director of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony, Graf is a busy guest conductor in America and Europe. Graf studied the violin with his father from the age of six, and later studied the piano, at the Bruckner-Konservatorium. after which he studied conducting with Ferrara in Siena, Arvid Jansons in Leningrad, and Celibidache in Bologna. Early triumphs included a debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1977 and first prize at the Karl Böhm Competition in 1979. In 1984, he was appointed music director of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg. In North America, Graf has conducted the orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, St. Paul, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. In Europe, he has led almost every major orchestra, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Gothenburg Symphony, and the Orchestre National de France. He has also appeared at major international festivals, including those of Vienna and Salzburg (where he conducted for 13 consecutive years). Graf has appeared at many major European opera houses, including those in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Paris, and Rome. As would be expected from such a busy artist, Graf has a large discography. For the Capriccio label, he has recorded the complete symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, as well as the premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s opera Es war einmal. He has also embarked on a project of recording the complete orchestral works of Henri Dutilleux with the orchestra of Bordeaux for the label Arte Nova. The first disc in this series was awarded the Prix du Président de la République by the Académie du Disque Charles Gros.