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Jiri Belohlavek Conductor

Founder and Music Director Laureate, Prague Philharmonia
Chief Conductor, BBC Symphony Orchestra

The renowned Czech maestro Jiří Bĕlohlávek took up the position of Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in July 2006. He was Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony (1977-89) and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic (1990-1992), with whom he has recorded extensively for Chandos Records. He founded, and is now Music Director Laureate, of the Prague Philharmonia and has undertaken many tours with this ensemble, including a televised appearance at the Proms in 2004.

He appears regularly with major orchestras including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Vienna Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic and NHK (Tokyo) Symphony. In North America, he conducts the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Montreal, and Minnesota. In his homeland, Jiří Bĕlohlávek was appointed Chairman of the Prague Spring Festival in 2006.

Highlights of last season included appearances at the Royal Opera House in a production of Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin and his debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

His 2008-09 season includes appearances at the Opera de Paris (The Bartered Bride), Teatro Real Madrid (Katya Kabanova), The Metropolitan Opera (Eugene Onegin and Rusalka), and a return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera for a production of Dvorák’s Rusalka.

In the 2009-10 season Maestro Bĕlohlávek will conduct, amongst others, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Japan Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras.

This is for information only and should not be reproduced. Please see full biography for further details.