From 1996 to 2006, he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Zürcher Kammerorchester, ZKO).
Griffiths is a champion of music by contemporary Turkish and Swiss composers.
With the ZKO, he has also conducted works in a classical and classical modern range, including CDs of Haydn's Creation, symphonies by Mozart and Ferdinand Ries and works by Beethoven, Pleyel, Cherubini and Handel.
In the UK, Griffiths was principal guest conductor of the Oxford Orchestra da Camera from 1994 to 1997.
From 2007 to 2018 Howard Griffiths was chief conductor of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester (BSOF) in Frankfurt (Oder).