The Planets

Event

The Planets

Naples Philharmonic
Naples Philharmonic Chorus Women
Masterworks Series

Hans Graf, conductor
James Cochran, chorus director
Stephen Hough, piano

Beethoven — Piano Concerto No. 3
Holst — The Planets

Prelude at 7pm

Tickets start at $29

Stephen Hough

Stephen Hough

Hailed by the Washington Post as “a virtuoso who begins where others leave off,” Stephen Hough is considered one of the most distinctive artists of his generation as a pianist, composer and writer. He began taking piano lessons at age five and, after much pleading from Hough, his parents bought him a second-hand piano from a local antique shop so he could play at home. Hough attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and, in 1978, he took first place in the piano section of the BBC Musician of the Year Competition. He also holds a master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York, having studied there as the first ever recipient of the Julius Isserlis Scholarship for study abroad by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

Over the course of his career, Hough has earned himself a reputation as a uniquely insightful pianist, highly regarded for his mastery of the instrument and his inquisitive mind. He has appeared with most of the major European and North American orchestras and regularly plays recitals in music halls and concert series around the world. Included among his most recent engagements are performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. Hough resides in London where he is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College of Music.

Hans Graf

Hans Graf

Known for his wide range of repertoire and creative programming, the distinguished Austrian conductor Hans Graf is one of today’s most highly respected musicians. Graf was the Music Director of the Houston Symphony for twelve years, making him the longest serving music director for the symphony. He has been a frequent guest with many of the world’s major orchestras, including appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. From 2013 to 2015, Graf was a professor for orchestral conducting at Salzburg Mozarteum University.

Hans Graf has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government for championing French music around the world, as well as the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria. In 2018, he won a Grammy award for his recording of Alan Berg’s Wozzeck with Anne Schwanewilms, Roman Trekel and the Houston Symphony.