Petr Popelka
Petr Popelka has established himself as one of the most beloved and in-demand conductors of his generation. He will become chief conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker in the 2024–25 season and is currently chief conductor and artistic director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. He previously held the position of chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
During the 2023–24 season, he led the Wiener Symphoniker, as chief conductor designate, in a new production of Weinberger’s opera Schwanda the Bagpiper at the Theater an der Wien, followed by concerts in Vienna and two European tours. He also made debuts with the Gewandhausorchester, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, as well as at the Zurich Opera House (conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni). In addition, Popelka returned to the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Previous debuts have seen him appear with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also led the annual ORF TV concert Spring in Vienna and the ZDF Advent concert in Dresden. His new productions of Shostakovich’s opera The Nose at the Semperoper and Richard Strauss’s Elektra at Oslo Opera were acclaimed by the press and audiences alike.
In the 2019–20 season, Popelka became the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra’s first conductor fellow. He received his musical education in his hometown of Prague as well as in Freiburg. Between 2010 and 2019, he was deputy principal double bass of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Aside from conducting, composition plays an important role in his artistic activities.