Juraj Valčuha (born 1976, Bratislava) is a Slovak conductor who has worked mainly in Italy and France. He is the music director of the
Houston Symphony Orchestra.
Life
Born in
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
, Valčuha studied composition, conducting and
cimbalom
The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...
at the '. He later studied conducting with
Ilya Musin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and with
Janos Fürst at the
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...
. From 2003 to 2005, he was an assistant conductor at the
Orchestre national de Montpellier and the
Opéra national de Montpellier.
Valčuha first guest-conducted the
RAI National Symphony Orchestra
The RAI National Symphony Orchestra () is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piazza Rossaro in Turin. Its concerts are broadcast on Ra ...
in 2005. He became the orchestra's principal conductor in the 2009–10 season. He concluded his RAI tenure in 2016. In July 2016, the
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ...
announced the appointment of Valčuha as its music director, a post he held through 31 December 2022. Valčuha is principal guest conductor of the
Konzerthausorchester Berlin
The Konzerthausorchester Berlin is a German Orchestra, symphony orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra is resident at the Konzerthaus Berlin, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The building was destroyed during World War II, and ...
as of the 2017–18 season, following his initial guest-conducting appearance with the orchestra in the 2014–15 season, and his subsequent return guest-conducting engagement two years later.
In the US, Valčuha first guest-conducted the
Houston Symphony Orchestra in 2011. He returned as a guest conductor with the Houston Symphony for two subsequent engagements, in April 2018 and in March 2021. In July 2021, the Houston Symphony announced the appointment of Valčuha as its next music director, effective with the 2022–2023 season.
Valčuha makes his home in France and Houston.
References
External links
*
Vermont Classics agency biography of Juraj Valčuha*
ttp://www.rai.it/dl/portali/site/articolo/ContentItem-3f3c94dd-fdb5-4cbb-b8d9-a85839aa2b2e.html Musica di RAI3, Italian-language page on Juraj Valčuha'Herzlich willkommen, Juraj Valcuha!' Konzerthausorchester Berlin page on Juraj Valčuha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valcuha, Juraj
1976 births
Living people
Slovak conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Musicians from Bratislava
21st-century conductors (music)
21st-century male musicians
Music directors of the Houston Symphony