Hans Graf
Music Director, Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Principal Guest Conductor, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra
Music Director Emeritus, Houston Symphony Orchestra
Known for his wide range of repertoire and creative programming, the distinguished Austrian conductor Hans Graf is one of today’s most highly respected and experienced musicians. With Hans Graf, “a brave new world of music-making under inspired direction” (The Straits Times) began at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, where he was unanimously appointed Chief Conductor from the 2020/21 season, and then Music Director from the 2022/23 season.
Maestro Graf also currently holds the title of Principal Guest Conductor of the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra of Denmark and formerly served as Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, L’Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, The Basque National Orchestra Euskadi and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.
He has appeared with nearly all major orchestras of the United States including the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and in Canada with Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa.
In Europe, Graf has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, the Tonkuenstler Orchestra of Austria, in Germany the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the DSO Berlin, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Konzerthaus Rochester Berlin and many others; in Holland the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, and the Residentie Orchestra; in Belgium the Orchestre National de Belgique and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, in Scandinavia the Danish National Radio Orchestra, the Oslo Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Finnish National Radio Orchestra, and many others in the United Kingdom the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others; in Russia the St Petersburg Philharmonic and Russian National Orchestra, in Eastern Europe the Budapest Festival Orchestra and still so many others. In the Far East and Southern Hemispheres Graf is a regular guest with the Sydney Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Seoul Philharmonic and the KBS Orchestra Seoul, the Hong Kong and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan.
A frequent conductor at the Salzburg Festival since 1983, Graf has also participated in the prestigious festivals of Maggio Musicale, Bregenz, Aix-en-Provence in Europe, and in the US, the Tanglewood, Blossom, Aspen, Grant Park and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festivals.
In the world of opera, Maestro Graf has led many performances at the Vienna State Opera and in various of the opera houses of Munich, Berlin, Paris and Rome, among others. More recent productions include Wagner’s Parsifal in Zurich and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in Strasbourg. In 2014 he was awarded the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis for Richard Strauss’s Die Feuersnot at the famed Vienna Volksoper, where he returned in 2021 to lead Richard Strauss’ beloved Der Rosenkavalier.
Hans Graf’s extensive discography is found on the EMI, Orfeo, CBC, Erato, Capriccio and JVC labels and includes all the symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, the complete orchestral works of Henri Dutilleux (recorded under the composer’s supervision), and the world-premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s Es war einmal. Graf’s semi-staged production of Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony won both the GRAMMY and ECHO Klassik awards for best opera recording.
Born near Linz in 1949, Graf studied conducting with Franco Ferrara, Sergiu Celibidache and Arvid Jansons. He is Professor Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. For his services to music, he was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government and the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold from the Republic of Austria.
November 2023
