Zdeněk Klauda

Biography

A composer, pianist and flautist since his childhood, Zdeněk Klauda studied at the Jan Neruda Music Grammar School (composition under the tutelage of M. Kubička, the flute with V. Paulík and the piano with D. Souleimannová). Subsequently, he took conducting lessons from H. Farkač. After graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2005, he joined the National Theatre, where he has been permanently engaged (currently serving as an assistant conductor and head of music preparations). His compositions have been published by the US’s  Alliance Publications, Inc. In 2008, Zdeněk Klauda was invited to prepare a production of Dvořák’s Rusalka for the Salzburger Festspiele. Ever since, he has performed at a number of prestigious opera houses throughout Europe, including the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opera Valencia and Opera National de Paris. In 2012, he co-prepared the music for a production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne, where in the next season he participated in the staging of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. In 2015, he was invited to work on productions of Janáček’s Jenůfa and Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Staatsoper Hannover. In 2012, he came third at an international conductors’ competition in Romania. He has assisted conductors of such renown as F. Welser-Möst, K. Petrenko, V. Jurowski and T. Netopil. In 2014, he founded L’Armonia Terrena, a chamber orchestra specialising in performing rediscovered pieces by Czech Classical composers. The orchestra released three CDs under the label Nibiru Publishers. The first one, ‘DECADE’, included works of Mozart and Mysliveček and featured soprano Simona Šaturová. The next one was the recording of the international premiere of Jakub Jan Ryba’s Stabat Mater. The recording won a prestigious award DIAPASON DÉCOUVERTE. The most recent CD, Antonín Rejcha’s Requiem, was released in September, 2019. Zdeněk is often invited to be a guest conductor at Czech orchestras (e.g., South Czech Philharmonic, Philharmonic in Hradec Králové, Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, and Chamber Philharmonic in Pardubice), opera houses (e.g., National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava), and national music festivals (e.g., St. Wenceslas Music Festival). He regularly accompanies top Czech and world opera singers, such as Simona Šaturová, Adam Plachetka, and Veronika Dzhioeva. He made his debut on the stage of the Novaya Opera in Moscow in 2018. Then he conducted the world premiere of Augustýn Šenkýř’s oratorio Dies Numini et Principi in Prague National Theatre in the same year. From January to February, 2019 Zdeněk was engaged in musical preparation of Smetana’s ‘The Bartered Bride’ at the Sepmeroper in Dresden, made his debut with the State Philharmonic in Košice, and took part in the production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Prague National Theatre. He conducted Don Giovanni at Prague National Theatre in season 2019/2020. Zdeněk and his chamber orchestra were also guest performers of the Czech Society for Chamber Music at the Czech National Philharmonic in the same season.

Photo: Ilona Sochorová