Jakub Hrůša

Jakub Hrůša

He makes guest appearances with some of the world's leading orchestras in Europe and overseas And what’s more, from September 2025 Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša will become the new musical director of the London Royal Opera in Covent Garden, the second Czech ever to hold the position.

The patron of the Smetana 200

He is currently chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, the main guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the legendary Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

“People are amazed at how many superb composers we have in such a small country that can really compete with the best," he said of Czechia, his native country.

He was born in Brno in 1981. He studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague under the famous Jiří Bělohlávek, former head of the Czech Philharmonic. He is particularly acclaimed by experts for his excellent interpretations of the works of the great classical composers from the 18th to the 20th century, as well as for his performance of famous and lesser-known compositions by names ranging from Bedřich Smetana
through to contemporary composers.

In 2020 he was twice the winner of a prestigious award from BBC Music Magazine. He has won the prestigious German Opus Klassik award, in the Conductor of the Year category. He was awarded the Antonín Dvořák Prize for his promotion of Czech music abroad and again won the Anděl Award in the classical music category.

Jakub Hrůša is the patron of the Smetana 200 project and the ambassador for the Year of Czech Music. During these celebrations of Czech music, his appearances will include conducting at the prestigious Smetana’s Litomyšl, the opera Libuše at the Prague Spring in the Rudolfinum and Janáček Brno.