Role(s):
Specialties:
Affiliations:
Since making his prize-winning European conducting debut in Copenhagen’s Tivoli Koncertsalen in 1978, Franz Anton Krager has led orchestras in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace, Manchester England’s Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham England’s Adrian Boult Hall, Guangzhou China’s Xinghai Music Center, the Sydney Opera House, The Hague’s Congresgebouw, Kazan’s State Philharmonic Hall in Russia, Guadalajara’s Degollado Theater, and Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. His affiliations with leading music festivals include the Lancaster International Concert Series and the Lichfield and Aberystwyth International Arts Festivals in the U.K., and the Interlochen National Music Camp in the U.S. Maestro Krager has led the Houston, Russian State, Traverse City Michigan and Florida West Coast symphonies, Romanian and Kazan State philharmonics; symphony orchestras in Berlin, London, Paris, Singapore, Leipzig, Monterrey, Pordenone, Ingolstadt, Neuss, and Honolulu, and was Principal Guest Conductor in Stratford, England from 2000-2004. In 2015, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the North Shore Chamber Arts Ensemble in Chicago. Krager is Music Director & Chief Conductor of the Texas Music Festival, and Founding Artistic Director of the Virtuosi of Houston. Krager is also Professor of Conducting, Director of Orchestras, and Chair of the Conducting Department at the University of Houston Moores School of Music, where he has brought the orchestra and orchestral conducting program into national prominence. An active recording artist, Krager has released recordings of the music of Thomas Fortmann, Percy Grainger, Michael Horvit, Peter Lieuwen, Robert Nelson and Stephen Shewan on labels including Divine Art, Albany, MSR Classics, Newport and HDTT.