Semyon Bychkov

Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov marked the Orchestra’s 130^th anniversary in 2026 with extensive tours of Asia and Europe and, PENTATONE’s release of Mahler’s Nine Symphonies. In 2026/27, he returns to the repertoire of his formative years, and alongside Czech masters will conduct works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky. “What amazes me is how strongly Shostakovich’s existential music resonates in a world which seems, outwardly, very different from the one in which he was fighting for his life both as a human being and a composer. But maybe we’re all faced with a struggle to be true to ourselves against odds of various kinds, even insidious ideologies which hide their true nature.”  

Born in Leningrad in 1952, Bychkov emigrated to the United States in 1975 and, since the mid-1980’s has lived in Europe. He enjoyed success as Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic and, following a series of high-profile cancellations leading to engagements with the New York and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras and the Concertgebouw, returned to St Petersburg in 1989 as the Philharmonic’s Principal Guest Conductor. He was named Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris (1989); Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (1997); and Chief Conductor of the Dresden Semperoper (1998).  From August 2026, Bychkov will be Music Director Designate of the Paris Opera, assuming the title of Music Director in 2028. 

Bychkov conducts in all the major opera houses including La Scala, Milan, London’s Royal Opera House and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. In Europe he is frequent guest of the Concertgebouw, Munich, Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Orchestre National de France and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; while in the US, he conducts the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras. The warmth of Bychkov’s relationships is reflected in honorary titles at the Royal Academy of Music and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, who he regularly conducts at the BBC Proms.

Semyon Bychkov was named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards (2015) and, by Musical America (2022).