Vassilis Christopoulos Extends Contract with Opera Graz

The greek conductor has served the ensemble as Chief Conductor since 2023

The Opera Graz, in Austria, announced the extension of Vassilis Christopoulos' contract. Vassilis Christopoulos has been chief conductor of the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic since 2023.

Christopoulos has led numerous concerts in the opera house and in the Musikverein für Steiermark, including opera and ballet productions such as "Macbeth" (2023) and "Schlaflos" (2024).

In the current season, the major productions include "Tannhäuser and the Singers' War at Wartburg" (2024) and "Les Troyens" (2025) as well as the two-part dance evening, entitled "Sacre!"

He has served as the Chief Conductor of the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra of Constance in addition to the Artistic Director of the Athens State Orchestra.

In 2013 he was awarded Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Republic, and in 2016 he was appointed Professor of Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt.

He made his US debut in 2022 with Eugene Onegin during the San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season.

"After one and a half years of intensive collaboration and many wonderful successes with the Graz Philharmonic, I have come to know and appreciate the richness of color, the joy of playing, the human and musical qualities of the orchestra as well as the high level of the ensemble, the choir and the ballet of the Graz Opera," Christopoulos said. "That’s why I’m particularly looking forward to continuing to lead this wonderful opera house musically until 2028!"

"Vassilis Christopoulos is a stroke of luck for Graz, the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic," Director Ulrich Lenz. "His artistic work in the opera house and in the Graz Music Association inspires the audience as well as the specialist press. In addition, he assumes his responsibility as chief conductor of the Graz Opera with a level of care for all aspects of this challenging task that I have rarely experienced and is therefore, for me, an important, indispensable partner in the artistic design of the house. I am very pleased that we can continue our fruitful collaboration until at least 2028."