Uwe Grodd conductor
Uwe Grodd’s contributions to classical music
have brought him considerable international
acclaim as conductor, flautist, editor and teacher.
To date, he has made world premiere recordings
of more than 80 works of 18th and early 19th
century music. Three of these masses and 19
symphonies have not been heard since the
18th century. In 1997 he joined Naxos Records
as an exclusive artist, a partnership that has
allowed him to reintroduce the oeuvres of many
undervalued or forgotten composers.
Uwe Grodd initially gained worldwide attention
when awarded First Prize at the Cannes Classical
Awards 2000 for Best 18th Century Orchestral
recording for his CD of Vanhal symphonies
on which he conducted Hungary’s Nicolaus
Esterházy Sinfonia. Two Editor’s Choice Awards
from Gramophone UK followed and in 2013
Grodd received the coveted International Record
Review Outstanding Industry award following
his recording of Ferdinand Ries’ Complete
Works for Piano and Orchestra, featuring the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth
Symphony, the Gaevle and the New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra.
Uwe Grodd performed and recorded his new
editions of Hummel’s arrangements of Mozart’s
last six symphonies for flute, violin, cello
and piano. With their generous suggestions
for phrasing, articulation, dynamics and,
most importantly, metronome markings for
tempo, they offer an intricate insight into how
Mozart’s most prominent student shaped
these masterworks. In 2018 this was followed
with Hummel’s arrangements of Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 1 and the Eroica. He performed
and recorded them in the UK with the Gould
Piano Trio.
Performance highlights include eight concerts
with the Mexico City Philharmonic and the final
concerts of the 53rd and the 54th Handel Festival
in Halle, Germany. This involved a combined
choir of 280 and the Philharmonisches
Staatsorchester Halle. He also conducted sell-out
seasons of Handel’s rediscovered opera Imeneo
in the Halle Opera house, and was awarded the
Badge of Honour for his services to the Handel
Festival and the City of Halle.
Uwe Grodd is equally committed to the music
of his own time, playing a pivotal role in
commissioning more than 50 works from New
Zealand composers. He conducted the premiere
season of the multi-media opera Galileo, with
music by John Rimmer and libretto by Witi
Ihimaera, and, in 2012, was Artistic Director of
Len Lye the opera, with music by Eve de Castro-
Robinson and libretto by Roger Horrocks.
Uwe Grodd is Professor Emeritus of the
University of Auckland and has been the
inaugural Music Director of the Manukau
Symphony Orchestra since 1993. Last year he
was invited to be Music Director of the Chiron
Group which includes two fast growing music
schools with 500 students, the Albany School
of Music and the Remuera Music Academy. He
was invited to become Music Director of the
Auckland Choral Society, New Zealand’s longest-
established symphonic choir, in 2008.
Photo: Charles Brooks