 Jiří Bĕlohlávek took up the position of Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in July 2006. He was Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony (1977–89) and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1990–92), with which he has recorded extensively. In 1994 he founded the Prague Philharmonia (of which he is Music Director Laureate) and has undertaken many tours with this ensemble, including a televised appearance at the BBC Proms in 2004.
He appears regularly with major orchestras including the Berlin and London Philharmonic orchestras, the Vienna and NHK (Tokyo) Symphony orchestras, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw and Philharmonia orchestras and the Orchestre de Paris. In North America, he conducts the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington DC, St Louis, Montreal, and Minnesota. In his homeland, Jiří Bĕlohlávek has recently been appointed Chairman of the Prague Spring Festival.
Highlights of last season included a production of Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin for the Royal Opera and his debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. During this season he will appear with the Opéra de Paris (The Bartered Bride) and the Metropolitan Opera, New York (Eugene Onegin and Rusalka), as well as making a return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera for Dvořák’s Rusalka.
His live recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra of Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček. has been awarded this year's Gramophone Award for Best Opera Recording.
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