Program

Wagner Overture to Die Feen

Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1

Beethoven Symphony No. 7

About the Conductor

Jakub Hrůša

Born in the Czech Republic, Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker, Music Director Designate of The Royal Opera, Covent Garden (Music Director from 2025), and Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. He was also formerly Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He was the 2023 Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year.

As a recording artist, Jakub Hrůša has received numerous awards and nominations for his discography. He is a 2024 Gramophone Award nominee for his recordings of Britten’s Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Kát’a Kabanová with Vienna Philharmonic at Salzburg Festival. With Bamberger Symphoniker, he received the ICMA Prize for Symphonic Music in both 2023 and 2022, for his recordings of Rott’s Symphony No. 1 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4. He was awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and in 2021 his recording of Martinů and Bartók violin concertos with Frank Peter Zimmermann was nominated for BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone awards, and his disc of the Dvořák Violin Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Augustin Hadelich was nominated for a Grammy ® Award.

Jakub Hrůša studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where his teachers included Jiří Bělohlávek. He is currently President of the International Martinů Circle and The Dvořák Society, and an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was the inaugural recipient of the Sir Charles Mackerras Prize, and in 2020 was awarded both the Antonín Dvořák Prize by the Czech Republic’s Academy of Classical Music, and – together with Bamberger Symphoniker – the Bavarian Culture Award.

About the Violinist

Bomsori

Bomsori, a South Korean violinist, made history in February 2021 as the first Asian female violinist to sign an exclusive contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label. In 2024, her recording of Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi earned her the Concerto Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards, solidifying her international acclaim.

In June 2021, Bomsori released her debut solo album Violin on Stage with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero. Prior to that, in February 2019, she released a duo album with pianist Rafał Blechacz, featuring works by Fauré, Debussy, Szymanowski, and Chopin. This album won the Fryderyk Music Award for “Best Polish Album Abroad” and was praised for its profound interpretations of both French and Polish repertoire.

Bomsori earned her bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University, studying with Young Uck Kim, and later pursued her Master of Music and Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes. She currently performs on a 1725 Guarnerius del Gesù violin, known as the “ex-Moller,” on extended loan courtesy of the Samsung Foundation of Culture and The Stradivari Society.

About the Orchestra

Bamberger Symphoniker

The Bamberger Symphoniker is the only orchestra of world renown that is not based in a vibrant metropolis. The "magnetic effect" of the orchestra goes above all outward: the traveling orchestra has been carrying its characteristically dark, somber and warm sound and the musical echo of its hometown into the world since 1946. With almost 7,500 concerts in over 500 cities and 64 countries, they have become a cultural ambassador for Bavaria and the whole of Germany. The Bamberger Symphoniker therefore describe their mission in short words as Resonating worldwide.

Now, more than 75 years after it was founded, and with Czech-born Jakub Hrůša, the Orchestra’s fifth Chief Conductor, at the helm since September 2016, once again there is a living link from the Bamberger Symphoniker’s historic roots to its present. They regularly perform with their honorary conductors Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach and Manfred Honeck.

The orchestra regularly performs in Asia and made its debut in 1968 with Joseph Keilberth. This year the orchestra is touring South Korea for the third time and embarks on its thirty-third tour of Asia.