Musinfo: Interpreters

Griffiths Howard

(24. 02. 1950)

Griffiths Howard
Seefeldstr. 305
Postfach 1284
8034 Zürich (ZH)
Schweiz

Tel: +41 (0)1 388 36 00
Fax: +41 (0)1 388 36 10

www.howardgriffiths.ch

Genre: Classical Music

Professional activity: Interpreters

Biography

* 24. 02. 1950.

Howard Griffiths was born in England and studied at the Royal College of Music in London. Since taking up residence in Switzerland in 1981, Griffiths has performed as guest conductor with many leading orchestras worldwide including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the Ochestre Nationale de France, the Moscow Radio Tschaikowsky Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestra Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Tapiola Sinfonietta Finland, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, the Warsaw Philharmonic, Basel Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Orquesta Nacional de España, Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR and SWF Symphony Orchestras of Germany and the Polish Chamber Orchestra.
Howard Griffiths collaborates on a regular basis with the English Chamber Orchestra, performing with them for the first time in 1993 in the Barbican Hall, and the Northern Sinfonia with whom he has also made many CD recordings and undertaken several tours.
Together with the Collegium Novum Zurich, specialised in contemporary music, he conducted the Swiss premiere of Hans Werner Henze's Requiem in the presence of the composer. He has also worked closely with Sofia Gubaidulina, George Crumb, Arvo Pärt and Mauricio Kagel.
More than fifty CD recordings so far by Howard Griffiths under various labels (Sony, Koch, CPO, Novalis, Naxos etc.) bear witness to his extremely broad artistic profile. These include for example, works by Swiss and Turkish composers, as well as first recordings of rediscovered eighteenth and nineteenth century music. Critics worldwide have acclaimed his recently published recordings of all eight symphonies by Beethoven's pupil Ferdinand Ries. Readers of the British journal Classic CD voted Griffiths' recording of works by Gerald Finzi as "Classic CD of the Year" in this category. Howard Griffiths' interpretations of Mozart's symphonies with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra have also been highly praised.
The partnership between Howard Griffiths and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra goes back many years. Since the start of the 1996 / 97 season he has been artistic director of this orchestra, upholding and broadening its long tradition of excellence to even greater perfection. Audiences and the press have reacted very enthusiastically to this collaboration, in Switzerland as abroad.

Discography

Robin Orr (Guild Nr. 2000, 7196)