“Still, the real star of the evening was in the pit…Jiří Rožeň is a major emerging talent who was born in Prague but has spent most of his career abroad, conducting orchestras throughout Europe and developing a particular expertise in modern opera.” – Bachtrack, June 2022
Jiří Rožeň is quickly becoming known for his thoughtful programming and knowledge of a broad range of repertoire. As passionate and knowledgeable advocate of Czech music, he is expanding audiences with his unique interpretations of well-known works and those of lesser-known contemporary composers, including Bohuslav Martinů, Josef Suk, Viktor Kalabis and Miloslav Kabeláč.
In the 2023/24 season Rožeň makes his house debut with Bergen National Opera for a new production of Janáček’s Katya Kabanova and returns to Gothenburg Opera for a gala concert on the occasion of the bicentenary of Smetana’s birth which follows the success of Bartered Bride there last season. Elsewhere, in the Nordics he returns to Finland to make his orchestral debut with Jyväskylä Sinfonia. Early next year he will conduct Scottish Chamber Orchestra in New Year’s concerts with and will make returns to the Slovak Philharmonic, Filharmonie Hradec Králové and Slovak Sinfonietta.
Rožeň continues to develop his relationship with Prague State Opera where he returns this season to conduct the Czech premiere of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre and to curate the Opera Nova festival, of which he is Artistic Director, further cementing his reputation as one of the leading conductors of avant-garde opera. For the house in previous seasons, he has conducted Flammen, Seven Deadly Sins, Erwartung and Rusalka and in summer 2022, he premiered Nono’s Prometeo in the Czech Republic, continuing his close working relationship with the Ostrava Centre for New Music.
Last season he made important debuts with orchestras in North America joining Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony and Naples Philharmonic. Elsewhere, highlights in previous seasons have included successful debuts with Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharomnic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Aalborg Symphony, Hallé, Orchestre National de Metz MDR Leipzig, Bochumer Symphoniker and Orquesta Sinfónica de las Islas Baleares. In Belgium, he has conducted many of the major orchestras, including Orchestre national de Belgique, Brussels Philharmonic, Flanders and Antwerp Symphony orchestras as well as Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège.
Soloist collaborations in previous seasons have included renowned soloists such as Nobuyuki Tsuji, Randall Goosby, Alban Gerhardt, Lukáš Vondráček, Esther Yoo, Kian Soltani, Josef Špaček, Francesca Dego, Arabella Steinbacher, Jan Mráček, Pavel Šporcl, Kirill Gerstein, Vadim Gluzman and Lawrence Brownlee.
Born in Prague in 1991, Rožeň studied conducting at conservatoires and universities in Prague, Salzburg, Hamburg, Zürich and Glasgow where he was Leverhulme Conducting Fellow. He was successful in Salzburg and London as the Finalist of both the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition. Formerly Assistant Conductor at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Jiří worked alongside Donald Runnicles and Thomas Dausgaard and assisted them at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival. His mentors have included Garry Walker, Dennis Russell Davies, Ulrich Windfuhr and Johannes Schlaefli. Other important influences include Bernard Haitink, David Zinman and Peter Eötvös in masterclasses with orchestras such as the Concertgebouworkest, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.