Petr Popelka

About Petr Popelka

Acclaimed for his scintillating, authentic and inclusive approach to conducting, Petr Popelka will become General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper in the 2029/30 season. He has been Chief Conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker since 2024/25.

Highlights of the 2026/27 season include, alongside concerts and tours with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France, and an appearance at the Salzburg Festival. He returns to the Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberg Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony and Danish National Symphony, as well as to the Zurich Opera House for Verdi’s “Don Carlo”.

Earlier debuts include the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and NHK Symphony Orchestra.

A celebrated opera conductor, he has appeared at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Káťa Kabanová, Rusalka), Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Tosca), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tristan und Isolde), Semperoper Dresden (Die Nase), Theater an der Wien (Schwanda, Die Fledermaus), Zurich Opera House (Don Giovanni), the Norwegian Opera in Oslo (Elektra) and the National Theatre in Prague (Rusalka, Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro).

Popelka began his conducting career in 2019/20, after serving as deputy principal double bassist of the Staatskapelle Dresden (2010–2019). He was Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (2020–2023) and of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (2022–2026). He trained in his hometown of Prague and in Freiburg, and is also active as a composer.