BIOGRAPHY

Born in Vienna, Alexis Hauser studied conducting with the legendary Hans Swarowsky and continued his training with George Hurst, Franco Ferrara and Herbert von Karajan. A recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship, he was awarded the prestigious Serge Koussevitzky Conducting Prize by the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1974, launching an international career that has taken him to major orchestras throughout Europe, North America and Asia. Three years later he was named a Prize Winner of the First International Hans Swarowsky Conducting Competition in Vienna, a distinction that further affirmed his place within the great Viennese conducting tradition. He has appeared as guest conductor with many of the world's foremost orchestras—including the Vienna Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Berlin, Southwest German Radio Symphony, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Atlanta, Toronto and Montréal, among many others—and has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Stefan Askenase, Rudolf Buchbinder, Leonard Roser, Ida Haendel, Philippe Entremont, Maureen Forrester and Michael Schade.

His first music directorship, with Orchestra London Canada (1981–88), transformed the orchestra through ambitious programming, regular CBC recordings, a Beethoven Festival, a Europeran tour to the L’Aquila Festival in Italy and the internationally noted 1986 Mahler Symposium, culminating in a landmark performance of Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand that received outstanding critical acclaim, notably from William Littler of the Toronto Star. He subsequently served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic (1991–95), where his televised performance of Mahler's First Symphony was broadcast throughout Europe, and as Artistic Director of the KCM Orchestra Tokyo (1995–2000), leading acclaimed performances in Suntory Hall and Bunka Kaikan, including Mahler's Sixth Symphony and Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, the former hailed by critic Robert Rÿker as one of Tokyo's outstanding musical events.

Although his interpretations of Gustav Mahler have earned particular acclaim, Hauser's artistic identity embraces the full breadth of the orchestral repertoire. His performances range from the Viennese Classics through the Romantic masters to the major works of the twentieth and twenty-

first centuries. Alongside Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Mahler, he has cultivated a distinguished reputation as an interpreter of Dmitri Shostakovich, whose symphonies and orchestral works occupy a central place in his repertoire. Equally at home in the French tradition, he has conducted the music of Berlioz, Franck, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel, Dutilleux and Messiaen with exceptional sensitivity to their distinctive orchestral colours and refined sonorities. His extensive repertoire also encompasses the Russian masters—including Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Scriabin—as well as major works by Sibelius, Nielsen, Bartók, Britten, Elgar, Copland, Bernstein and numerous contemporary composers.

Mahler nevertheless remains one of the defining artistic pillars of Hauser's career. His performances have been praised for their structural coherence, emotional depth and profound understanding of the composer's musical language. He has conducted and recorded many of Mahler's major works, including the First, Third, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Symphonies, the Resurrection Symphony, and the original version of Das klagende Lied. His Canadian premiere of Mahler's original 1880 version of Das klagende Lied marked a significant milestone in Canadian musical life, while his interpretation of Mahler's Tenth Symphony was selected by the Montreal Gazette as one of the outstanding classical performances of the year.

A passionate advocate of contemporary music throughout his career, Hauser has conducted numerous world, national and regional premieres. These include the Canadian premiere of Pierre Boulez's Notations I–IV & VII, the Pan-American premiere of Friedrich Cerha's Sinfonie, the Québec premiere of Kaija Saariaho's Laterna Magica, the world premiere of Zdzisław Wysocki's Two Orchestral Etudes, and the first performance outside Europe of Wolfgang Rihm's Transitus. His operatic accomplishments include conducting the world premiere of Werner Schulze's Kalkül at the Zürich Opera with the libretto by Carl Djerassi.

One of the landmarks of his Canadian career was his widely acclaimed 2005 revival of Harry Somers' landmark opera Louis Riel at Montréal's Place des Arts, honoured with the Prix Opus as Musical Event of the Year. Building upon this celebrated production, Hauser has created an orchestral Louis Riel Suite, masterfully arranged from Somers' original score. Scheduled for its world premiere on April 9, 2027 in Montréal’s Pollack Concert Hall , the suite brings one of Canada's most important operatic masterpieces into the symphonic repertoire, making its powerful musical and dramatic language accessible to concert audiences.

Equally significant has been Hauser's contribution to musical education. During his long tenure at McGill University's Schulich School of Music, he has mentored generations of conductors and orchestral musicians, earning an international reputation for his exacting standards, inspiring musicianship and exceptional pedagogical gifts. His former students occupy leading positions with orchestras and opera companies around the world. Among the most prominent are Yaniv Attar, Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra; Jordan de Souza, internationally acclaimed opera conductor appearing with many of the world's foremost opera houses; and

Nicolas Ellis, one of Canada's most celebrated young conductors and Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bretagne. Numerous other former students have likewise established distinguished careers across Europe, North America and Asia, reflecting the lasting influence of Hauser's artistic vision and mentorship.

Through a career distinguished by interpretive excellence, intellectual curiosity and an unwavering commitment to artistic discovery, Alexis Hauser has established himself as a conductor of exceptional versatility. Whether illuminating the monumental canvases of Mahler and Shostakovich, revealing the luminous colours of the French repertoire, championing contemporary composers, or shaping the careers of future generations of conductors, he continues to enrich musical life with performances of uncommon depth, integrity and imagination.