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Appearing

conductor / Elias GRANDY＜Chief Conductor, from April 2025＞

baritone / Benjamin APPL

Song List

Elias Grandy: Mahler Project #3 & Grandy Richard Collection #2

【Single Tickets】will be on sale starting 10am on Friday, August 22／Subscriber application (annual and first half season) starts from Friday, February 7, 2025.

＜Journey ~ Songs of a Wayfarer, Ein Heldenleben- A Hero's Life＞
"Ein Heldenleben-A Hero's Life" is the work that couples with last June's "Don Quixote" and "Titan" last year. Enjoy the contrasts among these pieces, which is the essence of Grandy's programming. Apple, appearing in "Songs of a Wayfarer," is the last disciple of the late Fischer-Dieskau, one of the best baritone in the 20th century, and whom Grandy wished to collaborate very much. The concert starts with Takemitsu's work, "A Way A Lone II," and Takemitsu showed much love to the sound of the orchestra; its flower would surely blossom again with Grandy.
【Lobby Concert】
♪Enjoy our Lobby Concert at Foyer before the main program. (Lobby concert starts 30 minutes prior to the start of the concert, and its content will be announced on our website together with ticket information a day before the concert date.)

『2025-2026 New Subscribers』～ Application to be a subscriber

In the first season with the new Chief Conductor Elias Grandy, a project with the maestro starts with Mahler and R. Strauss. There will be other large size orchestra on the stage, presenting works by John Adams, Nielsen, and Stravinsky throughout the year.

■We also accept mid-term application after the start of the season at any time.

■How to apply

『Apply via Lawson Ticket』［seat selectable］

『Apply by filling in application form』［seat non-selectable］

※Wish to know more：fill in the following format to receive more information OR call Sapporo Symphony Orchestra +81(0)11-520-1771

『2025-2026 Season』 Brochure（PDF- in Japanese）

※Appearing artists and program are subject to change.

“Hurray!! To Elias Project “　Special Celebration page with Elias is now open!!

Elias Grandy is the Chief Conductor of Sapporo Symphony Orchestra starting April 2025. Your message to Elias, his photographs and videos are to be uploaded and reviewed. If you have any question on Elias, just ASK!

『Special Page：https://new.express.adobe.com/』

Hurray!! To Elias Project

This project is not one-way, and we want you to join.
Part 1 (2025-2026 season) is to everyone come to his concert. Click the following for more details

『Special Page for Elias：https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/aZIDHlzdiBYu4』

【special interview】Elias Grandy, Chief Conductor of Sapporo Symphony Orchestra▽

© Y.Fujii

Elias GRANDY＜Chief Conductor, from April 2025＞（conductor）

Elias Grandy’s international profile is rapidly rising by conducting first-class orchestras and opera productions in Europe, America and Asia. Hailed by the press as “passionate and full of temperament”, “vigorous and equally precise” and praised for his ability to “grasp psychological subtleties under a microscope”, the German-Japanese conductor gave recently highly successful debuts with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestra. In 23/24 the energetic, charismatic conductor will return to Frankfurt Radio Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of Germany and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Tokyo and give debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken. Furthermore, he will take the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz on a tour to Poland as their “conductor in residence” for 23/24 and appear frequently with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he enjoys a close relationship for many years. Elias is equally devoted as an opera conductor, feeling passionately about theatre and musically shaping the narrative of each drama. In recent years he has conducted highly acclaimed productions of Elektra and Carmen at Minnesota Opera, Werther and A Village Romeo and Juliet at Frankfurt Opera, Un ballo in maschera at Aalto-Theatre Essen, Carmen at Opera Nikikai Tokyo and Rusalka at Portland Opera. Future engagements include the Semperoper Dresden and reinvitations to Frankfurt Opera and Opera Nikikai Tokyo. Last season he finished his tenure as music director of Heidelberg’s Opera and Philharmonic orchestra where he significantly raised the caliber of both, providing thoughtful, innovative programming and burnishing the city’s fast-growing reputation as a vital musical hub. Enthusiastic about making music more accessible, he introduced several highly popular concert formats for young people and an educated audience. His final season programme included Prokofjev’s Love for Three Oranges, Bruckner’s Symphony No.7 and a series of unknown works by female composers. Born of German-Japanese parents Elias studied cello and conducting in Munich, Basel, and Berlin. He worked as a cellist in orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Komische Oper Berlin. He started his conducting career as Resident Conductor at Staatstheater Darmstadt and shortly after won the prestigious Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition. In 2015 he was named music director in Heidelberg, a position he held until 2023. Grandy was a member of the Orchestra Academy (cello) in 2004, and of the Conducting Academy in 2012. In 2024 he makes his return to PMF as Guest Conductor. He is Chief Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, starting in April 2025.

© David Ruano

Benjamin APPL（baritone）

Hailed as ‘the most promising of today’s up-and-coming song recitalists’ (Financial Times), baritone Benjamin Appl is celebrated by audiences and critics alike for a voice that ‘belongs to the last of the old great masters of song’ with ‘an almost infinite range of colours’ (Suddeutsche Zeitung), ‘exacting attention to text’ (New York Times), and artistry that’s described as ‘unbearably moving’ (The Times). Named Gramophone Award Young Artist of the Year in 2016, Appl was a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme from 2014-16, as well as a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and ECHO Rising Star for the 2015-16 season, appearing at major venues throughout Europe, including the Barbican Centre London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Paris and Cologne and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. He was signed exclusively to SONY Classical between 2016 and 2021. He recently partnered up with Alpha Classics for a long term collaboration of multiple albums.