The Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (BSOF) honors its former principal conductor Howard Griffiths in a special way: It appoints him honorary conductor for life.
Officially, this award will be presented on April 27, 2023 at 7 p.m. in the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Concert Hall, Lebuser Mauerstrasse 4. Then Howard Griffiths will conduct the next concert of the "Spannungsfelder" series developed by him with the BSOF. It is a project that is developed and performed together with young audiences and for the same.
The impetus for the appointment as honorary conductor came from the musicians of the orchestra. "The orchestra owes him a great deal through his educational work and charisma," said Regina Behrend, chairwoman of the orchestra's board, explaining the decision. Howard Griffiths initiated large German-Polish educational projects in Frankfurt (Oder), in which thousands of children and young people from eastern Brandenburg and western Poland participated. "He thus enriched educational work in Frankfurt (Oder) and the German-Polish border region in a way that had not been done before and opened up new, fruitful fields of activity for the BSOF," says Regina Behrend. He has also enriched the orchestra's musical horizons with, for example, oriental programs, sometimes exotic soloists, and extremely innovative New Year's concerts.
For this educational work, which has a broad impact on society, the BSOF received the special prize of the German Orchestra Foundation and the title "Innovative Orchestra" in 2018. Even after his time as GMD, Howard Griffiths and the BSOF continue to collaborate on such education projects and also on other concerts.
The appointment of Howard Griffiths as Honorary Conductor marks the second time that the BSOF has awarded this title. The only honorary conductor to date was Maestro Heribert Beissel, who died in 2021 and was general music director of this orchestra from 2001 to 2006.
Howard Griffiths was music director and artistic director of the BSOF from 2007 to 2018. At that time, he set new standards for the orchestra with his education work. Moreover, the BSOF experienced a productive phase of various CD productions with Howard Griffiths. With him, it recorded film scores, works by Beethoven, Brahms, Josef Holbrooke, Alexandra Tansman, Salomon Jadasson, and Johann Sebastian and Carl Philip Emanuel Bach.
Howard Griffiths has also realized with the BSOF the musical realization of his four musical fairy tales (text: Howard Griffiths, composition: Fabian Künzli) and also the world premieres of the stage versions. In the process, he collaborated with stars such as Martina Gedeck. These musical fairy tales received multiple awards.
About: Howard Griffiths was born in England and studied at the Royal College of Music in London. From 1996 to 2006, he was artistic director and principal conductor of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Before, during and after his time with the BSOF, he has also appeared as guest conductor with numerous leading orchestras. These include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Filharmonia Narodowa Warszawy, the Orqestra Nacional de España, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and various major German radio orchestras.
Howard Griffiths is regularly involved in contemporary music and has worked closely with composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, George Crumb, Arvo Pärt, Mauricio Kagel and Hans Werner Henze. In addition, more than 150 CD recordings on various labels bear witness to Howard Griffiths' artistic output.
Since completing his tenure as artistic director of the BSOF, Griffiths has devoted himself intensively to recording all of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's solo concertos with especially gifted young soloists. This reflects his work with the Orpheum Foundation for the Promotion of Young Soloists, of which he has been Artistic Director since 2000. In this position, Howard Griffiths also undertook the collaboration of outstanding young artists with the BSOF.
Because of his services to musical life, Howard Griffiths was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2006. For his work with the BSOF and his work in Brandenburg, he was honored with the Order of Merit of the State of Brandenburg.