Graziella Contratto

Graziella Contratto

Member of the jury 2014-2018, chair of the jury 2017-2018

Originally from Schwyz, conductor Graziella Contratto trained as a concert pianist and chamber musician. From 1991 to 1998 she was the youngest lecturer in music theory at the Lucerne conservatoire.
In 1998 she was invited by Claudio Abbado to become musical assistant at the Berlin Philharmonic and the Salzburg Easter Festival. In 2000, the Orchestre National de Lyon under the direction of David Robertson made her its resident conductor.
From 2003 to 2009 Graziella Contratto was the principal conductor of the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie. Various engagements as a guest conductor took her to numerous European countries and the US. She also worked with most of Switzerland’s symphony orchestras.
Graziella Contratto was artistic director of the Davos Festival from 2007 to 2013. She has been Head of the Department of Music at the Bern University of the Arts since the autumn semester 2010. She is a regular guest on Swiss radio and television and has run conducting workshops for company managers since 2004.