Zdeněk Mácal

Zdeněk Mácal was born in Brno, where he studied at the conservatory and at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts. He first found himself in the spotlight when he became a laureate at two international conducting competitions in Besançon and New York (1965, l966). After several years’ work with Czech orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, he left Czechoslovakia after the Soviet occupation in 1968.

Mácal soon became intensively involved in international musical life abroad. He became, in turn, Music Director of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Hanover Radio Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Grant Park Summer Festival in Chicago. In subsequent years he was responsible for the phenomenal rise of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, which he led from 1993 to 2002.

During his career as a conductor he has directed over 160 orchestras on four continents. He has appeared as guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Washington National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic or the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in Europe with similar dedication, conducting some of the most famous orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, all the London-based orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Guest appearances also took Zdeněk Mácal to Japan, La Scala Orchestra in Milan and other principal opera houses.

Mácal’s musical profile would not be complete without a mention of his participation in top international festivals (Vienna, Lucerne, Montreux, Edinburgh, Prague, Athens, Besançon and, in the USA, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Wolf Trap and the Hollywood Bowl) and his innumerable recordings which, during his career as conductor, he made primarily for Delos and Koss, but also for Sony, EMI, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and Supraphon. His concerts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra are recorded by Czech TV and Czech Radio.

After his return to the Czech Republic he briefly headed the Prague Symphony Orchestra. From the beginning of the 2003/2004 season until September 2007 Zdeněk Mácal held a position as the tenth Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. During this time was able to regain the attention of the public and critics—his performances have mostly met with favorable responses both at home and abroad. He has also received official awards, the most prestigious being on the occasion of the Czech Republic’s National Day on 28 October 2004, when he was awarded the Medal for Services to the Nation in the Field of Art by the President of the Republic. In January 2006 he was awarded the Honorary Medal of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic “in the area of science and the arts”. Most recently the Palacký University in Olomouc conferred the title Doctor Honoris Causa on him in June 2006 and in February 2007 he was given another honorary doctorate by the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno.