FILIP URBAN - BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1995, Czech conductor Filip Urban belongs to the youngest generation of Czech conductors. He graduated in conducting from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. In 2018, he spent two months on an artistic residency at Ryan International School in Bengaluru, India, and in 2021/2022 undertook a conducting internship at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. In September 2024, he was the only Czech conductor selected for the prestigious Nordic Masterclass in Denmark under the renowned Jorma Panula. He has also attended masterclasses with Tomáš Hanus and Mark Stringer. 

Filip Urban has received numerous awards and distinctions. In 2021, he was selected to conduct at the festival Ti nejlepší at HAMU in Prague. He won the 1st Conducting Competition of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra in 2023, became a laureate of the International Mendelssohn Conducting Competition in 2024, and in the same year was invited to conduct at the Talentinum Festival organized by the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in Zlín. Also in 2024, the City of Ostrava honored him with the title Talent of the Year. In 2025, he was among 24 conductors worldwide invited to the International Opera Conducting Competition (CIDOO) at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in Belgium.

Since 2018, Filip Urban has held the position of Chief Conductor of Brno Komorní dechová harmonie, and in 2023 he also assumed the role of Chief Conductor of the Májovák Karviná symphonic band, active in the Moravian-Silesian region. Beginning with the 2024/2025 season, Filip has served as Assistant Conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. In addition, Filip has been a faculty member in conducting at the Brno Conservatory since 2022.

In 2024, at Prague’s Rudolfinum, Filip prepared the production Jonathan Livingston Seagull in collaboration with the Czech Philharmonic, the dance group Dekkadancers, and actors Jiří Lábus and Vilém Udatný. The production was subsequently presented at the Theatre World Brno Festival and at Colours of Ostrava. He has also worked with ensembles and orchestras including the Odense Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Dresden, Dresden Ensemble Courage, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic, and Akademičtí komorní sólisté, among others.

Filip Urban works actively with the opera company of the Moravian Theatre Olomouc, where he has conducted productions including Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, and Verdi’s La traviata. At the National Theatre Brno, he has served as assistant conductor for productions such as Verdi’s Don Carlos and Nabucco, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and he assisted conductor Jakub Hrůša in Janáček’s From the House of the Dead / Glagolitic Mass. With the Chamber Opera of the Janáček Academy in Brno (Divadlo na Orlí), he has prepared productions of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Martinů’s Comedy on the Bridge and The Voice of the Forest.

In 2025, he began collaborating with the ballet company of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava, where he is scheduled to conduct performances of the ballet Peer Gynt and Prokofiev’s opera The Gambler.