Prof. Maria Graf

Prof. Maria Graf began playing harp in the traditional Bavarian style at the age of 11. She studied in her home town, Munich, at the Hochschule für Musik, where she received her master's diploma in 1980. She studied with Ursula Lentradt in Munich and Pierre Jamet in Paris. In the music school competition in Trussingen, she won first prize in the harp section, and in 1984 she received the scholarship prize of the state of Bavaria. Maria Graf gained her orchestral experience in the Munich Philharmonic under Sergiu Celibidache and as principal harpist in the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan. International prizes and recognition led to performances throughout Europe and Japan. She can be heard in various solo and chamber music programmes and she works with orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Berlin Philharmonic. Maria Graf is a regular guest at festivals in Berlin, Salzburg and Bad Kissingen, and at the chamber music festival in Lockenhaus. Her chamber music partners include Irena Grafenauer, Gérard Caussé, Eduard Bruner, the Rosamunde quartet and the Peterson quartet. She organised song recitals in which she accompanied the sopranos Edith Wiens and Juliane Banse. She has also made several recordings. In 1988 Maria Graf became Professor of Harp at the Musikhochschule Hamburg, and since 1997 she has taught at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin.