Hans Graf
Music Director
“A brave new world of music-making under inspired direction” - The Straits Times
Armed with a spirit of musical curiosity and discovery, creative programming and his commanding presence on stage, Austrian conductor Hans Graf has raised orchestras to new heights while winning audiences young and old alike. 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 appointed Chief Conductor from the 2020/21 season, and Music Director from the 2022/23 season.
Graf was formerly Music Director of the Houston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Basque National Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. He frequently appears with all major orchestras in North America, including Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, and a special friendship with the Boston Symphony developed over 20 years.
In Europe, Graf has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, DSO Berlin, Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam, the Oslo, Stockholm, the Hallé, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic and Russian National, the Bavarian, Danish and Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestras, Budapest Festival Orchestra and many others. He is also a regular guest with the leading orchestras of Asia and Australia.
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.
Temasek Foundation SSO Hans Graf Inaugural Concert
Graf has led many performances at the Vienna State Opera and the opera houses of Munich, Berlin, Paris and Rome, among others. 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 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 the GRAMMY and ECHO Klassik awards for best opera recording.
Further albums include Hindemith’s complete works for viola and orchestra with Tabea Zimmermann/DSO Berlin (Myrios), Orff's Carmina Burana with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the Russian National Orchestra, Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos with Jae-Hyuck Cho and three Russian trumpet concertos with Paul Merkelo.
With the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hans Graf has completed pioneering recording projects such as the music of Paul von Klenau and Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem. A highly anticipated cycle of Mozart Violin Concertos with Chloe Chua, and Stravinsky Concertos with violinist He Ziyu and pianist Alexei Volodin have also been recorded under his baton, for release.
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.
