Petr Popelka (born 1986) is a Czech conductor and composer.

Biography

Popelka was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czechoslovakia. he studied music and played the double bass at the Prague Conservatory. He continued his studies at the

Hochschule für Musik Freiburg The Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ("University of Music Freiburg or Freiburg Conservatory of Music") is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music. ...

, where his teachers included Božo Paradžik. At age 19, Popelka became a member of the

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu'', Czech acronym SOČR, English acronym PRSO) is a Czech broadcast orchestra based in Prague, the Czech Republic. The SOČR performs concerts at the Dvořák Hall of ...

, and in 2009 joined the academy of the

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestras operated under the auspices of Bayerischer Rundf ...

. From 2010 to 2019, Popelka was deputy principal double bassist of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Popelka was composer-in-residence at the PODIUM festival in Mödling in 2015. During his orchestral tenure in Dresden, Popelka developed an increased interest in conducting. His conducting mentors have included Vladimir Kiradjiev,

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös (, ; 2 January 194424 March 2024) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and academic teacher. After studies of composition in Budapest and Cologne, Eötvös composed film music in Hungary from 1962. He played with the Stockhaus ...

, Alan Gilbert, Jaap van Zweden and Johannes Schlaefli. He was a recipient of the

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

Prize in 2017. In the 2019–2020 season, he was the first conducting fellow at the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. From 2020 to 2023, Popelka was chief conductor of the

Norwegian Radio Orchestra The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Norwegian, ''Kringkastingsorkestret'', abbreviated as KORK) is a radio orchestra affiliated with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (''Norsk rikskringkasting AS'', or NRK). Its principal base is the ''Store Studi ...

, his first chief conductorship. He has served as principal guest conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. Popelka became chief conductor and artistic director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra as of the 2022–2023 season. He first guest-conducted the

Vienna Symphony The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

in May 2022. In June 2023, the Vienna Symphony announced the appointment of Popelka as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2024–2025 season, with an initial contract of five seasons.

Selected compositions

* ''Labyrinth des Herzens'' (2015) * ''Szenen für Klavierquartett'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website of Petr Popelka

Intermusica agency page on Petr Popelka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popelka, Petr 1986 births Living people Musicians from Prague Czech classical composers Czech male conductors (music) 21st-century Czech male musicians Chief conductors of the Vienna Symphony