Jiří Habart is one of the most compelling conductors of the young Czech generation. A laureate of the Zoltán Kodály International Conducting Competition in Debrecen (2023), he also received special prizes awarded by the Hungarian State Opera, Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra Budapest, and the Kodály Philharmonia Debrecen. In the same year, he was named a finalist of the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Originally trained as a violinist from the age of twelve, Habart studied at the Primary Art School in Litomyšl and the P. J. Vejvanovský Conservatory in Kroměříž. He later pursued orchestral conducting at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno under the guidance of Jakub Klecker and Tomáš Hanus, and choral conducting with Blanka Juhaňáková. His musical education was further enriched by masterclasses with Tomáš Netopil, Kirk Trevor, Zsolt Nagy, and Mark Stringer. In addition, he studied baroque violin with renowned historical performance specialist Lenka Torgersen, leader of Collegium Marianum. He is a 2014 Bayreuther Festspiele scholarship holder.
Habart has collaborated with leading orchestras across Europe, including the London Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester (Hamburg), Sinfonia Varsovia, Kodály Philharmonic Debrecen, Brno Philharmonic, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic (Zlín), Pilsen Philharmonic, and the South Bohemian Philharmonic. As part of the Janáček Brno International Festival in 2018, he led performances of two contemporary operas: Falstaff and Unknown.
Since the 2019/2020 season, he has served as a conductor at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava, where his repertoire spans both opera and ballet. His productions have included La Traviata, Nabucco (Verdi), Rusalka (Dvořák), Dalibor, The Two Widows, The Bartered Bride, The Brandenburgers in Bohemia (Smetana), Manon (Massenet), La scuola de’ gelosi (Salieri), The Barber of Seville (Rossini), Così fan tutte (Mozart), Peer Gynt (Grieg), Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Il ballo delle ingrate (Monteverdi), Il capello di paglia di Firenze (Rota), The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky), Le Corsaire (Adam), and Dangerous Liaisons (Maskat).
Recent highlights include debuts with the Slovak Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Sinfonia Varsovia, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Theatre in Prague (Così fan tutte), Brno National Theatre (Swan Lake, The Nutcracker), Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, Hradec Králové Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, and the Slovak Sinfonietta.
Habart is regularly invited to major Czech festivals including Prague Spring, the Smetana's Litomyšl National Festival, the Janáček Festival Ostrava, and the Bennewitz Festival in Česká Třebová. In the 2024/2025 season, Jiří Habart is set to make exciting debuts with the Hungarian State Opera (Budapest), Welsh National Opera (Cardiff), Dohnányi Orchestra (Budapest), and at the Münsterplatz Festival in Freiburg with the Prague Philharmonia.
April 2025
