Jiří Habart

Jiří Habart is a laureate of the Zoltán Kodály International Conducting Competition in Debrecen (2023), and has received special awards from the Hungarian State Opera, Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra Budapest, and the Kodály Philharmonia Debrecen. In the same year, he was a finalist in the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

Originally trained as a violinist from the age of 12, Jiří 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 (WNO Music Director), and choral conducting with Blanka Juhaňáková. He also benefitted from 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. 

Jiří 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 and Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic (Zlín). As part of the Janáček Brno International Festival in 2018, he led performances of two contemporary operas: Falstaff and Unknown.

In recent years, 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, Rusalka, Dalibor, The Bartered Bride, Manon, La scuola de’ gelosi, The Barber of Seville, Così fan tutte, Dido and Aeneas, Il ballo delle ingrate, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire and Dangerous Liaisons.