Career highlights include Ariadne auf Naxos, La bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Don Giovanni and Turandot with Florida Grand Opera; Die Fledermaus with Toledo Opera; Carmen with Edmonton Opera; Così fan tutte with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; The Pirates of Penzance with Nashville Opera; Madama Butterfly, The Merry Widow and La bohème with Ash Lawn Opera; Rigoletto, Carmen and La traviata with Opera Birmingham; The Mikado and The Student Prince with Opera Delaware; Il barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, Jenufa, Norma, Tosca and his own orchestral reduction of Korngold's Die tote Stadt with Washington D.C.'s Summer Opera Theatre Company; Faust, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, The Mikado and Oklahoma! with Augusta Opera; Madama Butterfly and La traviata with Shreveport Opera; Il barbiere di Siviglia with the New York City Opera National Company; and La traviata with the University of Missouri - Kansas City. Mr. Graf has been Florida Grand Opera's Resident Associate Conductor and Director of its Young Artist Studio, having conducted FGO Young Artist Studio productions of Albert Herring, Così fan tutte, Giulio Cesare, The Rape of Lucretia and Il trionfo dell'onore. He has been a recent Metropolitan Opera Auditions adjudicator, having judged the Michigan, Northern Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Georgia Regional Auditions.
Ariadne auf Naxos - Florida Grand Opera - James Roos, Miami Herald
"Still, however he felt about tenors, he wrote intoxicating music, and Mark Graf, in his debut conducting a major production here, turned out to be a true Straussian, unfolding the long, creamy line with great assurance, authority and deep feeling for the poetic beauty of the score. He coaxed the Florida Philharmonic into sounding warmly resonant in the big house."Die Fledermaus - Toledo Opera - Steven Cornelius, Toledo Blade
"The orchestra was convincingly lead by Mark Graf, who found a comfortable balance between the waltz's aristocratic and sensual extremes."La bohème - Ash Lawn Opera - Melissa Sumner, Daily Progress
"The sharp conducting of Mark Graf at the Ash Lawn Opera Festival provided support as he led the orchestra to sounds of sweeping lyricism, passionate melodies and emotional directness. This is not an easy score to conduct, as there are numerous musical shifts and breaths to feel with every singer. However, Graf led a rhythmically graceful performance, allowing singers flexibility to be expressive."Carmen - Edmonton Opera - D.T. Baker, Edmonton Journal
"The night's best work came from the pit, with Mark Graf leading a crisply paced Edmonton Symphony."Così fan tutte - Lyric Opera of Kansas City - Mickey Coalwell, Kansas City Star
"Conductor Mark C. Graf is a real singer's conductor, with a wonderfully flexible pulse and sprightly tempos. The Opera Orchestra was on its best behavior for him."The Pirates of Penzance - Nashville Opera - Jill Clendening, Nashville City Paper
"Members of the Nasvhille Symphony, directed by Mark Graf, performed the musical score so flawlessly and with seamless transition, that it was easy to forget that the accompaniment is live and not a smooth soundtrack."
Other appointments have included Music Coordinator and Rehearsal Pianist for Pittsburgh Opera; Assistant Conductor for Tulsa Opera; Conductor/Music Director for Opera in the Ozarks; Faculty positions with the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University and the Pittsburgh Opera Center at Duquesne University; Guest faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Master Classes and Coaching Sessions at the University of Alabama and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Mark C. Graf earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and a Master of Music in Vocal Coaching and Accompanying from the University of Illinois, where he studied with John Wustman. A child of Swiss immigrants, he makes his home in Alexandria, MN, with his wife and two sons.