Acclaimed Czech conductor appointed director of London's Royal Opera House

Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša has led world-class opera productions to great acclaim in Salzburg, Vienna, Paris, Zurich, and Frankfurt. He'll now bring his musical talents – and a touch of Czech tradition – to one of the world's greatest opera houses.

Hrůša has been appointed as the musical director of the Royal Opera House in London, reports The Guardian. The Grammy-nominated conductor told the publication that he plans to incorporate the music of his home country into the future repertoire at Covent Garden.

“Naturally I want to perform the music of my own national background – I want to do the best music written for opera and some of it is in Czech so, of course, I’m not going to avoid it,” he told the publication.

Hrůša, who performed on Augustin Hadelich's Grammy-nominated album "Bohemian Tales," has previously conducted "Carmen" (2018) and "Lohengrin" (2022) at the Royal Opera to critical acclaim. Future productions that he plans to lead as music director include works by Puccini, Prokofiev, Britten, and Janáček said the Royal Opera in a press release.

Hrůša is currently the chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and chief guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.

In 2020 he told Expats.cz that music has "always been an integral part of my life. My family isn’t musical professionally but I am eternally grateful to my parents that when they recognized my musical talent, they insisted that I practiced and developed it – albeit never forcefully."

Hrůša was born in the Czech Republic and studied at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts, where his teachers included leading conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. He has led opera productions for the Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Zürich Opera, and Frankfurt Opera.

Hrůša will become the Royal Opera’s seventh music director after Antonio Pappano steps down from his post at the end of the 2023/24 Season, ending a 22-year stint.

Oliver Mears, Director of The Royal Opera, said in a statement: "Jakub has proven himself to be one of today’s most exciting conductors in both the symphonic and operatic repertoire. We have been hugely impressed by not only his superlative music and theatre-making, but also by the generosity and warmth of his personality."

He went on to call the Czech-born talent "a musician of high intellect, thoughtfulness, and a deep conviction in the power of music to change us," which made him "the perfect fit for Covent Garden."