Beloved Maestro Hans Graf Is Celebrated In His Return To Houston While Revealing His Future Plans
A 77-Year-Old Who Still Lives For the Music
By Shelby Hodge //
It was a handsome clutch that turned out in Tony’s San Remo Room for cocktails and toasts to distinguished orchestral conductor Hans Graf, who was in Houston for his annual participation in the University of Houston Moores School of Music Texas Music Festival.
The beloved Austrian musician helmed the Houston Symphony from 2001 to 2013 during which he led the orchestra to its Carnegie Hall debut in 2006 and to a Grammy Award for a live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.
Such are the friendships that Graf and his wife Margarita made in Houston that the couple maintains a condo here and returns each June to participate in the music festival. Those friends as well as Texas Music Festival board members, musicians from the Houston Symphony that teach at the Moores School and Houston Symphony supporters were among those paying tribute to the maestro.
Patrons and philanthropists Vicki West and Ralph Burch, both also Houston Symphony trustees, hosted the early evening affair for Graf, who just completed his five season run as music director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Interestingly West and Burch recently returned from attending the Symphony Orchestra ball in Singapore, which honored Graf on his departure.
Visiting personally with everyone in the room, the 77-year-old Graf revealed that Singapore was his last full engagement, opting to concentrate on guest conductor engagements going forwad.
University of Houston College of Arts dean Andrew Davis announced an endowment for the Texas Music Festival in Graf’s name. Seed monies of $100,000 from an anonymous donor launched fundraising for the endowment.
Following this midweek cocktail reception, Graf led the Festival Orchestra II in performing Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.
PC Seen: Houston Symphony CEO Gary Ginstling, Symphony board chair emeritus Mike Stude, former Music School director Brian Chin, Texas Music Festival director Evan Leslie, longtime symphony patrons Judy and Rodney Margolis and Helen and Jim Shaffer, plus Lily and Thurmon Andress, Cristina and Peter Turner, Ann Ayre, Elia Gabbanelli, and Cory Tu.
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