German conductor Elias Grandy has been praised for his “passionate, spirited" interpretations of operatic and orchestral repertoire, ability to grasp “psychological subtleties” that enrich his music-making, and his extraordinary “precision” and musical depth. Opernwelt has commented [that] “to hear Don Giovanni in a completely new way, you don’t have to travel to Teodor Currentzis in the Urals or to Jérémie Rhorer in Aix. [You can go to] Heidelberg. What Elias Grandy and his orchestra tease out of the opera…[cleanses] our ears in a breathtaking way and lets us hear Mozart's music in an [altogether] new [mode].” Since his appointment in 2015 as general music director of Heidelberg’s Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra, Grandy has significantly raised the caliber of both, providing thoughtful, innovative programming, and burnishing the city’s fast-growing reputation as a vital musical hub. Over the past several years, Grandy has appeared more frequently as a guest conductor, making highly successful debuts at well-known orchestras and opera houses, including the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, Minnesota Opera, Svetlanov Orchestra, in Moscow, and the Frankfurt Opera, all of which led to immediate re-engagements. His upcoming engagements include performances of Strauss’ Salome in Frankfurt and debuts with Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at Aalto Theater Essen and Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Chemnitz Theater, in Germany. Grandy will also conduct Brahms Symphony No. 1 with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, Mahler Symphony No.1 with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, and return to the German National Youth Orchestra. In Heidelberg this season, he conducts new productions of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges, as well as a series of orchestral programs focusing on works by female composers. Born in Munich, Elias Grandy studied conducting, cello, chamber music, and music theory at the universities in Munich, Basel, and Berlin. He worked for several years as a cellist in several orchestras, among them the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Komische Oper Berlin, before turning exclusively to conducting. He rose quickly. His first appointment was Principal Resident Conductor at the Staatstheater Darmstadt in 2012, where he began to develop a wide range of repertoire. Grandy was then invited to become General Music Director in Heidelberg in 2015, the same year he won the prestigious Sir George Solti International Conducting Competition.