Finalisti - Aglaia Graf

Aglaia Graf was born in Basel. At the age of 14 she became a junior student in the piano class of Adrian Oetiker at the Musikhochschule der Stadt Basel where she passed her Concert Diploma with distinction in summer 2007. Since October 2007 she has been continuing her studies in Vienna at the University of Music and Performing Arts and in Paris. Master classes with teachers such as Andràs Schiff, Paul Badura-Skoda, Klaus Hellwig, Andrzej Jasinski, Ferenc Rados, Claudio Martinez-Mehner, Alain Planès, Pietro de Maria and have deepened her musical and pianistic knowledge.

Alongside solo recitals Aglaia is a regular soloist with orchestra, performing works such as Mozart’s piano concertos K414, K415, K451 and K491, Mendelssohn’s piano concerto No. 1, Beethoven’s piano concerto Nos. 1 and 5, piano concertos Nos. 1 and 2 by Shostakovich, the concerto for 2 pianos and percussion by Bartok (in the version for orchestra), Haydn’s D Major concerto, Grieg’s piano concerto, and Chopin's piano concerto Nos. 1 and 2.

Among the orchestras with which Aglaia has performed are the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, the Junge Philharmonie München (on a tour), the Symphony Orchestra of Basel (Mendelssohn/Grieg), the Würzburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zhen-Zhen Symphony Orchestra (China), the British National Wind Orchestra and Grimethorpe Colliery Band (under Elgar Howarth), , the Neues Orchester Basel, the Stadtorchester Thun, the Glarner Musikkollegium, the Orchestra of the Music Academy of Basel (under Marko Letonja), the Chamber Orchestra “Arpeggione”, the Baden-Baden Youth Orchester, the Collegium Musicum Basel.

In numerous successful recitals in Switzerland, Austria (Mozarteum Salzburg), Germany and Italy (including the Festival Pontino), Poland, on a tour of China and on a tour of Japan, Aglaia has performed as the duo partner of her father, Peter-Lukas Graf. In both duo and solo performances she has astonished her audiences with her own compositions. In September 2005 she and her father recorded all the original flute sonatas of J.S. Bach for CD.

In competitions both at home and abroad Aglaia has won first prizes for solo playing and chamber music. Among others at the Basel Piano Competition in 2001, at the swiss “Jeunesse Musicale”, at “Jugend musiziert” in Germany, and at the Music Prize Schloss Waldhausen. Furthermore, Aglaia’s playing has been broadcast by various radio stations in Switzerland (DRS2) and Germany (SWR 2, WDR 3).

Aglaia has been the recipient of several awards such as the Award for Young Talent from the Radisson hotel group, the Award for Outstanding Achievement from the chemical firm Novartis, the “Prix Jeunes Artistes” of the Association of Young Artists in Thun, the Culture Prize of Binningen, and in May 2006 the now 24-year Aglaia received the European Culture Award.

In 2007 she was awarded a grant by the Lyra Foundation and for the years 2008/2009 Aglaia won the music grant of the MIGROS-Kulturprozent and the Ernst Göhner Foundation.