Biography
Tomáš Hanus studied with Jiří Bělohlávek at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, and came to prominence when he won the Conductors’ International Competition in Katowice (1999). Since the 2007/08 season he has been the National Theatre in Brno’s Artistic Director of Opera.
As an opera conductor, he assisted Jiří Bělohlávek in 2003 at the Finnish National Opera with a new production of Janáček’s Katya Kabanova and was re-invited to conduct the revival in 2005. He has also worked with the National Theatre in Prague since making his debut in 2001 conducting Smetana’s The Devil’s Wall.
In the 2006/07 season he made a hugely successful debut at Opéra National de Paris (Bastille) with a new production of Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, and was immediately re-invited to conduct the revival there in 2008/09 and at the New York City Opera (2009/10).
Orchestra highlights from recent seasons include his debuts at the Mostly Mozart Festival New York with the Festival Orchestra and Louis Lortie; Gävle Symphony Orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic; I Pomeriggi Musicali Milan, amongst others, and last summer with the newly-formed Festival Orchestra for the Moritzburg Festival.
Future highlights include his debuts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and at the Zurich Tonhalle with the Winterthur Orchestra. He will also return to the National Theatre in Prague to conduct the production of The Makropulos Affair. He continues to work regularly with many Czech orchestras, including the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Zlín Philharmonic.
Tomáš Hanus has made several recordings with both the Prague Philharmonia and the State Philharmonic Orchestra Brno. More recently, he has recorded the Viktor Ullmann symphonies with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and has collaborated with outstanding Czech soloists for Lotos Records.
Update: June 2008