Biography
Joseph Trafton sustains an international career, conducting symphony concerts, operas, ballets, and contemporary music and has served as Music Director of the Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany since 2017. His symphonic concerts are noted for versatility in programming as well as intensity, nuance, and colors in performances. From the opera pit his interpretations of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal, Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, and Eötvös's Tri Sestry have garnered critical acclaim in the German-speaking musical world. Guest conducting throughout Europe, he made his Czech debut at the contemporary music festival Ostrava Days and has conducted world premieres at the Festival Musica Strasbourg, Savonlinna Festival in Finland, and Wien Modern in Austria.
Trafton studied conducting and composition in Miami, Vienna, and at the Eastman School of Music in New York. He was an active participant in conducting masterclasses with Bernhard Haitink and Pierre Boulez, who instilled in him the importance of a comprehensive knowledge of the composer's intentions and a desire to elicit sincere and sensitive performances from the musicians under his baton. Studies with Paul O’Dette and Malcolm Bilson ignited his enthusiasm for historically informed performance, and he has worked with Reinhard Goebel, Emmanuelle Haim, and Gottfried von der Goltz. He recently conducted Mozart’s Don Giovanni, conducting the recitatives from the fortepiano with the Hagen orchestra playing period brass instruments and timpani.
Based in Germany, Joseph Trafton has conducted orchestras including Nationaltheater Mannheim Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Braunschweig State Orchestra, Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, Vorpommern Philharmonic Orchestra, the Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ulm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oldenburg State Orchestra, and specialist contemporary music ensembles, including the Ensemble Musikfabrik (Cologne), the PHACE Ensemble (Vienna), and the Ostravská Banda (Czech Republic). He has collaborated with prominent instrumental soloists, including Steven Isserlis, Anna Vinnitskaya, Joseph Alessi, Kit Armstrong, Stefan Dohr, and renowned opera singers such as Daniela Dessì, Bo Skovhus, Ramón Vargas, Anita Rachvelishvili, Michael Volle, among others. Previous positions include 1st Kapellmeister at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, and Associate Conductor posts at the Staatstheater Braunschweig and Theater Regensburg.
A composer himself and advocate of new music, Trafton frequently commissions and conducts world premieres, including the symphonic work Forsaken by Charlotte Bray, the opera A Room of Own's Own by Outi Tarkiainen, the opera Der Golem by Bernhard Lang, and the Violin Concerto by Wolfram Schurig, which he recorded with the PHACE Ensemble for the Kairos label. He has conducted numerous ballets with contemporary music, as well as Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky's The Nutracker, Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin.
Beyond his conducting engagements, Joseph Trafton is a passionate educator and mentor, committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians and conductors. He has led numerous youth and college orchestras, such as the Mannheim Conservatory Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Musikschule Iserlohn, the Passau Student Orchester. Trafton believes in the power of education to shape the future of classical music and works tirelessly to ensure its accessibility and relevance in today's world.
