Petr Popelka

Acclaimed for his scintillating, authentic, and inclusive approach to conducting, Petr Popelka is general music director designate of the Bayerische Staatsoper, starting from the 2029–30 season. Since the 2024–25 season, he has served as chief conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker.

In addition to concerts and tours with the Wiener Symphoniker, highlights of the 2026–27 season include his debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Orchestre National de France, as well as at the Salzburg Festival. He will also return to The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and Zurich Opera House (for Verdi’s Don Carlo).

Previous debuts have taken him to the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and NHK Symphony Orchestra, among others. In previous seasons, he featured in prestigious televised galas such as the Czech Philharmonic’s Velvet Revolution concert, the opening of the Prague Spring Festival, and the Nobel Prize Concert with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a celebrated opera conductor, he has made guest appearances at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Káťa Kabanová and Rusalka), Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Tosca), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tristan und Isolde), Semperoper Dresden (The Nose), Theater an der Wien (Schwanda the Bagpiper and Die Fledermaus), Zurich Opera House (Don Giovanni), Norwegian Opera in Oslo (Elektra), and Prague’s National Theatre (Rusalka, Carmen, and The Marriage of Figaro).

Popelka began his conducting career during the 2019–20 season after serving as deputy principal double bassist at the Staatskapelle Dresden from 2010 to 2019. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as chief conductor at the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in Oslo (2020–23) and subsequently led the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (2022–26). Popelka received his musical training in his hometown of Prague and in Freiburg. He is also active as a composer.