ABOUT
"Frantisek is a person of the highest musical standards, who works meticulously and with real commitment to artistic excellence. He has warm, engaging demeanour from the podium."
- Manfred Honeck, Music Director of the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
"His natural authority and authentic love for music makes him a highly respected partner for all the orchestra members. He posses marvellous conducting skills, high social awareness - next to a fast and virtuoso understanding of musical structures."
- Alexander Liebreich, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Frantisek Macek is quickly developing a reputation as one of the leading young Czech conductors. Winner of the International Conducting Competition NOSPR Katowice, he worked as Assistant conductor to the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in the season 2018/2019. Since then he was invited to conduct the most prominent Czech orchestras including the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to the orchestras cited above, he has been working with numerous other orchestras, including among others: Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Moscow Philharmonic, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Strings, PKF-Prague Philharmonia, Norrköping Symfoniorkester, Gävle Symfoniorkester, NorrlandsOperans Symfoniorkester, George Enescu Philharmonic, Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie and Nederlands Symfonieorkest.
As opera conductor, he debuted with Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen in Swedish NorrlandsOperan. Since then, he conducted performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide, and Mozart's operas Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Der Schauspieldirektor and Così fan tutte. He was engaged as Assistant conductor for the production of Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Dutch National Opera Amsterdam.
A strong advocate of contemporary music, Frantisek Macek worked together with composers B Tommy Andersson and Péter Eötvös. With specialised music ensembles Norrbotten NEO and KammarensembleN-KeN, he premiered many contemporary compositions. He also conducted number of new opera pieces.
Frantisek Macek is a Royal College of Music in Stockholm graduate. He studied organ at the Conservatory in Kroměříž, Early Music interpretation at the Týnská school-Collegium Marianum and conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Identified as a promising conductor, his career development was supported by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, the Anders Sandrews Foundation and the HAMU Foundation.
He perfected his conducting skills during masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, Daniele Gatti, and Manfred Honeck, and was a fellow of the Aspen Conducting Academy and of the Gstaad Conducting Academy.