Elias Grandy
ELIAS GRANDY
General Music Director, Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg
Elias Grandy has quickly established himself as one of today’s leading young conductors, enjoying a growing international career that encompasses operatic and symphonic repertoire. Currently in his sixth season as Music Director of the Theater and Orchestra Heidelberg, he continues to expand and enrich the city’s artistic reputation as one of Germany’s most vibrant musical centers. Programming diverse repertoire that ranges from highly acclaimed interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Puccini, and Janáček to contemporary works such as Morgen und Abend by Georg Friedrich Haas and Peter Ruzicka’s Benjamin, Grandy has developed a reputation for bringing excitement, energy, and depth to each of his performances and received a contract extension in Heidelberg through the 2023-24 season.
Elias first attracted international attention in 2015 at the seventh Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition with his prize-winning performance. From 2012 to 2015, he was Resident Conductor at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. He also enjoys a close relationship with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.
The 2019-20 season marked several notable debuts resulting in immediate re-engagements outside of Europe: Elektra at the Minnesota Opera; Carmen at the Nikikai Opera; and performances with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and the renowned Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. In Germany, he conducted performances of A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Delius at the Frankfurt Opera, concerts with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and new productions of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in Heidelberg. Recent and upcoming highlights include concert performances with the Bremer Philharmoniker, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Munich Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of Germany, the symphony orchestras of Sapporo and Yomiuri Nippon, and the Weimar Staatskapelle, among many others. Other highlights include European tours with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany (Bundesjugendorchester), a tour of China with the Qatar Philharmonic, and performances of Berg’s Lulu and Verdi’s Don Carlo in Heidelberg, among other titles. Born in Germany to Japanese and German parents, Elias studied conducting, cello, and music theory in Basel, Munich, and Berlin. He was a cellist in the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio and the Komische Oper Berlin.
