Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. With sharp baton technique and natural stage presence, the impressive ease of his interpretations translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences. His profound understanding of composer and score, taste, and naturally elegant style make him one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.
In June 2022, he became music director of the Houston Symphony. Since 2016, Valčuha has been music director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was chief conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.
The 2005-06 season marked the start of his international career with concerts leading the Orchestre National de France, followed by remarkable debuts in the United Kingdom with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic and in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His Italian debut was at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna.
Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. The impressive ease of his interpretations translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences. His profound understanding of composer and score, taste and naturally elegant style make him one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.
Since 2016, Valčuha has been music director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was chief conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016.
He has since led the Berlin Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia London, Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo. His active career in the United States has taken him to the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Utah. He enjoys regular collaborations with orchestras in Minnesota, New York, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.
Valčuha champions the compositions of living composers and aims to program contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres including Christopher Rouse’s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony in Manchester and Nico Muhly’s Bright Idea with the Houston Symphony. In 2005, he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich’s Four Sections at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported are Bryce Dessner, Andrew Norman, Luca Francesconi, James MacMillan and Steven Stucky, among others.
On the opera stage, he has conducted Madama Butterfly, Elisir d‘amore, and The Marriage of Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera Munich; Elektra and Turandot at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Faust and The Love for Three Oranges in Florence; Jenůfa, Peter Grimes, Salome, Tristan und Isolde and Ariadne auf Naxos in Bologna; Peter Grimes in Venice, and Elektra, Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, Die Walküre, The Girl of the Golden West, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Katja Kabanova and Pique Dame in Naples.
His engagements in 2022–23 will take him to Pittsburgh and San Francisco, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia and the Orchestre National de France. He will conduct Verdi’s Don Carlo at Teatro San Carlo and La bohème and Tristan and Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, he studied composition and conducting there, then at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg (with Ilya Musin) and finally at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
