Tomáš Netopil
Conductor

An inspirational force particularly in Czech music, Tomáš Netopil is the Chief Conductor and Music Director Designate of the FOK-Prague Symphony Orchestra, and was Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 2018 to 2024, performing regularly on tour and in concerts at the Rudolfinum in Prague, where he continues to conduct the orchestra’s live-televised New Year concerts. He was Music Director at the Prague National Theatre from 2008 to 2012.

Netopil explores a wide range of symphonic repertoire in engagements with the Oslo Philharmonic, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Naples Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra etc. He also works with the period ensemble Concentus Musicus Wien, with which he will present an authentic production of Mozart’s Requiem at the 2025 Prague Spring Festival.

Opera productions conducted by Netopil in recent seasons include Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Hamburg Staatsoper, Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Prague National Theatre, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Die Zauberflöte with the New National Theatre Tokyo and Don Giovanni with Oper Köln.

Netopil is the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž, offering students both exceptional artistic tuition and the opportunity to meet and work with major international musicians. In 2021, in association with the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, the Academy established the Dvořák Prague Youth Philharmonic with musicians from conservatories and music academies, coached by principal players of the Czech Philharmonic. Netopil has enjoyed a close relationship with the Festival over the years, and was its Artist in Residence in 2017, opening the Festival with the Essener Philharmoniker and closing the Festival with Dvořák’s Te Deum with the Wiener Symphoniker.

Netopil’s discography for Supraphon includes Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (the first ever recording of the original 1927 version), Dvořák’s complete cello works, Martinů’s Ariane and Double Concerto, and Smetana’s Má Vlast with the FOK-Prague Symphony Orchestra. During his time as General Music Director at the Philharmonie Essen, his releases included recordings of Suk’s “Asrael” Symphony, and Mahler’s Symphonies Nos 2, 3 6 and 9.

Netopil studied violin and conducting in his native Czech Republic, as well as at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm under the guidance of Jorma Panula. In 2002, he won the 1^st Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition at the Alte Oper Frankfurt.