Czech conductor Petr Popelka has been Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK) since August 2020. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava.

Recent and future highlights include his debuts with renowned orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Staatskapelle Weimar, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Prague Symphony Orchestra and Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Operatic engagements took him to the National Theatre Prague, Den Norske Opera Oslo and the Semperoper Dresden, where he will also conduct in the future.

In the 2019/2020 season Petr Popelka was the first ever Conductor Fellow of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester. Having devoted himself increasingly to conducting since 2016, it was only a year later that Petr Popelka was awarded the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Academy’s Neeme Järvi Prize 2017. His new career path was particularly encouraged and nurtured by Vladimir Kiradjiev and Alan Gilbert, and master classes with Peter Eötvös, Jaap van Zweden and Johannes Schlaefli also had a formative influence on his development as a conductor

Petr Popelka acquired his music education both in his hometown of Prague as well as in Freiburg. Between 2010 and 2019 he held the position of deputy principal double bass of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden.