ERIC R. GRATZ, MUSIC DIRECTOR Euclid Symphony Orchestra

Eric Gratz received his M.A. from the distinguished School of Music at the University of Northern Colorado and has a teaching, conducting and performing career spanning over 40 years. Gratz has been quite active as a conductor in California and Ohio, having directed the Kings County Symphony, the Merced Symphony and the Heights Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted the Friday Philharmonic in over 200 concert performances, was Music Director of the Fresno Youth Symphony for 20 years, and conducted numerous honor orchestras and bands throughout California's San Joaquin Valley. Under his direction, the Fresno Youth Symphony performed on five major European Concert Tours in fourteen different countries and was recognized as one of the finest youth orchestras in the Western United States. During summers when not touring, he was Assistant Conductor under Daniel Lewis at Hidden Valley Institute of the Arts, and has been horn coach and conductor at the Fresno Philharmonic Music Camp, University of the Pacific Summer Music Camp and the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts in Saskatchewan, Canada. As a performer he was a member of the Fresno Philharmonic for 28 years, holding the position of Principal Horn for 15 years until his retirement in 1997 due to facial injuries suffered in a bad fall. He also played in the celebrated Music from Bear Valley Orchestra for 15 years, and has performed on his horn with Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Andy Williams, Ben Vereen, Melissa Manchester, Roger Daltrey and others too numerous to mention. He is a former member of Moment Musical, Fresno Lyric Opera Orchestra and Opera San Joaquin. Mr. Gratz is the 1998 winner of the Fresno Arts Council's prestigious Horizon Award, which is presented annually to "those who make major contributions to the enrichment of life in our community through the arts." Currently, Mr. Gratz is the conductor of the Euclid Symphony Orchestra, Lakeland Civic Orchestra and occasionally serves as cover conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.