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2022 Performances:

January 1, 2022    New Years’ Concert “I Could Have Danced All Night” with Emily Newton, Kenneth Mattice, and the Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra

January 15, 2022  Premiere: Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin

January 25, 2022  Symphony Concert with Anna Vinnitskaja, piano — Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 and Bartók Concerto for Orchestra

January 30, 2022  Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin

February 26, 2022  Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin

March 3, 2022  Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin

March 20, 2022  Premiere: Wagner Parsifal

March 30, 2022  Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin

May 14, 2022   Double-bill of Puccini Suor Angelica and World Premiere: Tarkiainen A Room of One’s Own

June 14, 2022  Symphony Concert with World Premiere by Charlotte Bray and Mahler Rückert Lieder, Beethoven 9th Symphony

Trafton is currently in his fifth season as Music Director of the Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra.  Conducting a broad palette of symphonic repertoire from Haydn, Brahms, and Mahler to Janácek, Hindemith, and Schostakovich, he also engages with issues of historical performance practice as well as commissioning and conducting world premieres.  Theater Hagen, where he is chief conductor, was awarded “Best theater beyond the major centers” in 2019, whereby his production of Tristan und Isolde was highlighted.  He has previously served as First Kapellmeister at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, awarded 2014-15 Opera House of the Year, as well as Kapellmeister positions in Braunschweig and Regensburg. He regularly guest conducts symphony orchestras and new music ensembles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and the Czech Republic.  His broad opera repertoire includes Der Golem (world premiere), La Traviata, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Eugen Onegin, Rusalka, La Bohéme, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Der Freischütz, L’Elisir d’Amore, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci. In addition, he has led numerous projects for youth and familes including Carmen – High School Opera, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Ravel’s Ma Mere L’oye Suite, Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le Toit and many more.

Photo: Receiving guidance from Bernhard Haitink.