Conductor Jakub Hrůša has been awarded Czechia’s Silver Medal of the President of the Senate, its highest award, presented to extraordinary artists, scientists or sportspeople. Since 2012, the medal has been presented by the Senate’s President in honour of Czech Statehood Day. This year’s ceremony was held in Main Hall of the Wallenstein Palace and the awards were bestowed by President Miloš Vystrčil. Jakub Hrůša’s father, Petr Hrůša, accepted the medal on his behalf.
Born in Czechia, Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, Music Director Designate of The Royal Opera, Covent Garden (Music Director from 2025), and Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. He was also formerly Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He was the 2023 Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year.
He is a frequent guest with many of the world’s greatest orchestras, enjoying close relationships and performing regularly with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra – and in the US with The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
As a conductor of opera, he has led productions for the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Jenůfa), Salzburg Festival (Kát’a Kabanová with the Vienna Philharmonic), Vienna State Opera (The Makropulos Case), Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Carmen and Lohengrin), Opéra National de Paris (Rusalka), and Zurich Opera (The Makropulos Case). He has also been a regular guest with Glyndebourne Festival, conducting Vanessa, The Cunning Little Vixen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, The Turn of the Screw, Don Giovanni and La bohème, and served as Music Director of Glyndebourne On Tour for three years.
Jakub Hrůša studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where his teachers included Jiří Bělohlávek. He is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and was the inaugural recipient of the Sir Charles Mackerras Prize. He has also been awarded the Bavarian Culture Prize, the Czech Academy of Classical Music’s Antonín Dvořák Prize, and – together with Bamberg Symphony – the Bavarian State Prize for Music.
Cover photo credit: Marian Lenhard; Inset photo: Jakub Hrůša’s father, Petr Hrůša acccepts the award from President Miloš Vystrčil.