STEPHEN KRAMER
B i o g r a p h y
Stephen Kramer, conductor and pianist, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He studied piano, composition, viola and conducting at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. He then went on to continue his conducting studies with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna,, Felix Prohaska in Hannover, Charles Bruck in Paris and Rafael Kubelik in Munich. He began his career as korrepetitor at the Niedersaechsisches Staatstheater in Hannover, the Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, where he was summoned by Wolfgang Sawallisch as his assistant for the centennial production of Wagner’s “Goetterdaemmerung.” He then served as permanent conductor in the opera houses of Salzburg and Linz, and as guest conductor in the Cologne and Innsbruck opera houses. In 1987 he was sent by Wolfgang Wagner of Bayreuth to the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto as musical assistant to Spiros Argiris and Gian Carlo Menotti for their production of “Parsifal.” He then conducted the Greenville, South Carolina Symphony, the Orchestra Romana Internazionale, and the Rockford, Illinois Opera. In 1994 he was invited by the Seoul City Choir to conduct the “German Requiem” of Brahms with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (the first performance in Korea.) He has since returned to Korea 24 times, to conduct the same organizations in the “Stabat Mater” of Dvorak, to conduct a series of television concerts, to accompany numerous recitals and to hold master classes for conductors, singers and pianists. At the same time, he has led an active life as recitalist, accompanying internationally-known artists including Margaret Price, Piero Cappuccilli, Chris Merritt, Gail Gilmore, Rodolfo ,Bonucci and Rocco Filippini. In addition, he has vast experience as a teacher, and has taught orchestral and choral conducting, chamber music, Lied and opera in the conservatories of Hannover, Terni , Boston and Rostock , at the American Institute for Musical. Studies in Graz, at the Richard Strauss Copnservatory in Munich and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
In 2005 he was made Visiting Professor at the conservatory of Shenyang, China, where he has been invited three times. In 2008 he was invited to conduct the Gwangju, Soiuth Korea, Symphony Orchestra and the MBC Chamber Orchestra of Gwangju.In addition to his teaching at five musical institutions in Rome, Mr. Kramer continues to come to Korea at least once a year for concerts and master classes. For example, in 2012 he accompanied four vocal recitals and gave master classes at Sookmyoung Women's University.In 2009 he formed a piano trio with his son Alexander and British violinist Michael Heald, with which they toured the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.In 2012 he was appointed adjunct professor of opera, vocal chamber music and Lied at the Conservatory "G. Briccialdi" in Terni.In 2013 he was asked by Cecilia Gobbi to be the permanent conductor of her organization "Magia dell'Opera," for which he conducted ten performances of the opera "Falstaff" in honor of the bicentennial Of Giuseppe Verdi and the centennial of her father, the great Italian baritone, Tito Gobbi.Also in 2013 he gave master classes at Sookmyoung Women's University in Seoul and at Chonnam University in Gwangju, in addition to appearing as piano soloist and conductor of the Gwangju Chamber Orchestra.
