Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere–NewYork Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; and he conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series — a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in February 2008 — the first performance there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world. Other recent tours have included Asia 2008 — to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in the fall of 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world’s operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993–2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972–82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965–71). He is an honorary member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. On February 17, 2009, he will be named a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the government of France.

A second-generation American, born in Paris, Mr. Maazel was raised and educated in the United States. He took his first violin lesson at age five, and first conducting lesson at seven. Between ages 9 and 15 he conducted most of the major American orchestras. In 1953 he made his European conducting debut in Catania, Italy.

Mr. Maazel is also an accomplished composer. His opera, 1984, received its world premiere on May 3, 2005, at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was revived in the 2007–08 season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and has been released on DVD by Decca.

Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham began the 2009–10 season performing Ravel’s Shéhérazade at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival. Other appearances include Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony; a return to The Metropolitan Opera for her signature role of Octavian in R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier; Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra led by Nicholas McGegan; and Lyric Opera of Chicago for Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust as Marguerite — a role she performed at The Met last season. She also appears with the Houston Grand Opera in the title role of Handel’s Xerxes.

Ms. Graham is a leading participant in the international Christoph Willibald Gluck opera revival, and has sung the title role of Iphigénie en Tauride in a new production staged for her by The Metropolitan Opera, and at Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. At home and abroad she has sung leading roles from the 17th to 20th centuries. She created the part of Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking for San Francisco Opera, and leading roles in two Metropolitan Opera world premieres: An American Tragedy by Tobias Picker and The Great Gatsby by John Harbison. Her numerous recordings include a survey of a century of French song, titled Un frisson français, with pianist Malcolm Martineau, and La Mort de Cléopatre by Berlioz, recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle (EMI Classics). Her disc of Charles Ives songs with pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard won a Grammy Award, and she received both a Grammy nomination and France’s Maria Callas Award for her portrayal of Dido in Dido and Aeneas.

Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, Susan Graham studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Schwabacher Award from San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, as well as a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. Ms. Graham last appeared with the New York Philharmonic for a nationally televised New Year’s Eve concert on December 31, 2008, conducted by Lorin Maazel.

“A wonderful all-American cast led by mezzo-soprano Susan Graham in a performance of continuous dramatic power and musical mastery.” (Chicago Sun-Times)

“A glowing musical central figure … [Graham] has aristocratic musical and vocal qualities that set her apart from other singers.” (Opera News)