The appointment is part of Director Boris Kudlička’s vision for the institution, which includes a stronger role for the person in charge of the orchestra. The new Music Director will have a broader scope of responsibilities and a greater influence on the institution’s overall artistic direction.
‘This is probably one of the most important decisions we are making,’ said Kudlička at the press conference announcing the appointment. ‘It is crucial to have an inspiring and dynamic person by your side ready to go for unconventional solutions together with the orchestra. When programming our future seasons, we explore the seedbeds of new talent, both in Poland and abroad. Engaging interesting voices, not only for the leading roles but also the supporting ones, is key from the point of view of an institution’s artistic standard,’ he stressed.
In his work, Yoel Gamzou expands the boundaries of traditional music performance with passionate intensity and a unique artistic vision. His deeply personal interpretations, relentless interest in new music and uncompromising commitment to communicating with new audiences make him one of the most remarkable representatives of a new generation of conductors.
He first appeared at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in January 2026, when he conducted a symphony concert featuring music by Beethoven, Strauss, and Prokofiev. ‘Perhaps this is what Warsaw needs today: someone young, vibrant, and possessing an original music vision that he is able to execute,’ wrote a critic for Gazeta Wyborcza after the enthusiastically received concert.
Gamzou has also established himself in the world of opera. From 2017 to 2022, he was General Music Director at Theater Bremen. In 2022, he conducted a performance of Die Tote Stadt at the Vienna Staatsoper. This led to frequent appearances In Vienna, as well a number of other major European opera houses, such as the Hamburg Staatsoper and the Bavarian Staatsoper, where he works regularly as guest conductor. This coming season’s opera productions include Fidelio at the Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Opera Festival, Der Freischütz at the Hamburg State Opera, whose premiere he conducted last season, as well as his debut at the Opera National de Montpellier with Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
‘Opera makes you a better symphony conductor. You learn your technique in opera, where the orchestra must be flexible and responsive to the singer at any given moment. For me, every melody is a voice. Even in symphonic music, everything – be it the cello or the violin – is just an imitation of the human voice. The more I work in opera, the better I am able to give shape to symphonic music,’ the artist said in an interview for Orfeo. ‘Opera needs new forms and the courage to experiment. No art form can survive if it merely rehashes the past. It does not need to be ‘good’ in the traditional sense – it has to open new pathways,’ he added.
As a highly sought-after symphonic conductor, Yoel Gamzou has worked with renowned orchestras such as the Wiener Symphoniker, the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, the Essener Philharmoniker, the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 2025/26 season he will return to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, among others.
Yoel Gamzou is also a prolific composer. His most recent work The Portrait – Archaeology of an Obsession for Speaker and Orchestra, is based on poems by the British painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The Portrait was premiered in January 2025 at the Konzerthaus Berlin.
‘The beauty of conducting lies in the fact that you make music collectively, and the result is never the same. It is not only about realising your ideas, but also about creating something new here and now, with these exact people. I find it hard to separate the two,’ Gamzou told Orfeo. 'When I’m composing, I immediately think about the performance and how I want the music to sound. When I’m conducting, I wonder what the composer had in mind. I look at the score like a doctor looks at an X-ray image – I see its architecture. So, perhaps I’m a composer-conductor and conductor-composer at the same time,’ he concluded.
Yoel Gamzou grew up in New York, London, and Tel Aviv. He was the last student of Carlo Maria Giulini, who was his main mentor.
The artist has been honoured with the ECHO Klassik Award in 2017, the Princess Margriet Award of the European Culture Foundation in 2013, and the Berenberg Culture Prize in 2012. In 2007, at the age of 19, he won the special prize of the International Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition, Bamberg.
At the press conference, the artist expressed his admiration for Warsaw as a dynamically developing city that has a great history and an openness for the future. He also mentioned that when working in other European capitals, he has never seen so many seats taken or so many young people sitting in the audience as in Warsaw.
‘Two subjects that for me are very important. First of all, new music in general and new commissions. We are planning to commission new operas as often as possible, especially by Polish composers. I think an institution should always not only reproduce the masterpieces of the past but always give platform for new creations.
‘Another subject which is crucially important for a Music Director is of course the orchestra. Ultimately, the reason for me to come here was the concert we did together and the wonderful relationship with your orchestra. It’s such an excellent group of musicians you have here. I am really looking forward to working with them,’ Gamzou said.
Yoel Gamzou's biographical note
(photo: Karpati&Zarewicz)
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