Karl Kritz was an Austrian conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

. Born in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, he sang in the Vienna Boys Choir as a child. He studied with Franz Schmidt

Franz Schmidt

Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...

 at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. After graduating, he pursued further studies in conducting in Nuremberg and Berlin. He immigrated to the United States in 1937 where he became active as a guest conductor with organizations like the American Opera Society

American Opera Society

The American Opera Society was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas between 1951 and 1970...

, the Pittsburgh Opera

Pittsburgh Opera

Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...

, the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, the San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...

, and the Utah Symphony among others.

From 1946–1949 Kritz worked on the conducting staff of the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

. In 1949 he joined the faculty of Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...

 where he directed the opera program for the next decade. He was also involved with establishing the Fort Worth Opera

Fort Worth Opera

According to the company, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest, continually performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed to a "festival" format in 2007...

 and conducted many of their productions during the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1960, he was appointed the first music director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra was a 79 member orchestra located in Syracuse, NY. In its time it was the 43rd largest orchestra in the United States and performed a variety of programs including the Post-Standard Classics Series and M&T Bank Pops Series....

where he remained until his death nine years later.