Music Director
Gergely Madaras
Since 1 September 2019, the young Hungarian conductor Gergely Madaras (39) has been the ninth music director of the OPRL.
Born in Budapest in 1984, Gergely Madaras first studied Hungarian folk music, before devoting himself to the flute, violin and composition. He is a graduate of the Flute Faculty of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and holds a Master's degree in conducting from the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He was Principal Conductor of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra (Hungary, 2014-2020) and Music Director of the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne (2013-2019).
He is a regular guest with leading orchestras such as the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra Nationale della RAI, Oslo Philharmonic, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and others.
He has performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, Barbican Centre, London's Royal Festival Hall and Tokyo's Suntory Hall. He has also made highly acclaimed debuts with the symphony orchestras of Melbourne, Queensland (Australia) and Houston (Texas).
Opera. Gergely Madaras has also established a strong reputation as an opera conductor. In 2012, he was chosen as the first recipient of the Sir Charles Mackerras Fellowship at English National Opera, received on his debut with that company, in a new production of The Magic Flute, directed by Simon McBurney at the Coliseum Theatre (London). Since then, he has directed a number of highly acclaimed productions: The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Otello, La Traviata, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Vanessa, Bluebeard's Castle, Albert Herring, Fantasio, Viva la mamma and Shostakovich's The Nose, in venues such as Dutch National Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Hungarian State Opera and Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels.
Contemporary music. With a strong interest in classical and romantic repertoire and Hungarian music, Gergely Madaras also has a particular interest in contemporary music. Between 2010 and 2013, he was Pierre Boulez's assistant at the Lucerne Festival Academy. In recent years, he has worked closely with composers such as George Benjamin, György Kurtág and Peter Eötvös. He has premiered, conducted or recorded over a hundred compositions written after 1970.