Czech Philharmonic appoints Huw Humphreys as Artistic Director and General Manager

„Since his appointment as Head of Music at the Barbican more than 10 years ago, Huw and the Czech Philharmonic worked collaboratively to strengthen the Czech Philharmonic’s position in the British capital. When Robert Hanč was appointed Director of the Prague Spring Festival, Huw was the obvious choice as the colleague who best understood the artistic potential of the Orchestra and could build on the work that had taken place across the world.

Through our collaboration on concert projects, we came to know Huw as a person with an exceptional understanding of the music world; a manager with international experience who can advocate convincingly for the special qualities of our leading orchestra. In addition to orchestral and touring management at the highest level, his professional background also includes running an international concert hall.

Huw was naturally our first choice and, I could not be more delighted that from September he will be part of the Czech Philharmonic team.“

— David Mareček, generální ředitel České filharmonie.

“I feel immensely honoured to be invited to take up the position of Artistic Director and General Manager at the Czech Philharmonic. I have had so many extraordinary experiences listening to the orchestra, including in Prague, Hamburg, London and Melbourne. Their performance of Má vlast under Semyon Bychkov at the Barbican, very soon after the Centre’s reopening post-pandemic, is seared on my memory and – I suspect – on the memory of every other concertgoer that night. It is a privilege to join the orchestra during Maestro Bychkov’s acclaimed tenure and to partner with him and his successor, Jakub Hrůša, in the years ahead. I can’t wait to immerse myself in the orchestra’s incredible sound world, in Prague’s culture and in Czech heritage. I am beyond excited to bring my ideas and experiences to the service of the Czech Philharmonic.“

— Huw Humphreys

Huw Humphreys was born in London, awarded a music scholarship at Winchester College and studied Musicology at St. Anne’s College, Oxford University. He was Head of Music at the Barbican Centre in London from September 2014 to December 2022, responsible for the classical and contemporary music programmes and concert hall operations at Europe’s largest multi-arts and conference centre. Prior to this, he served for nine years as Director of Artistic Planning at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, where his achievements included the appointment of Sir Andrew Davis as Chief Conductor and securing the orchestra’s debuts at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival. Huw also spent eight years at Askonas Holt Ltd and four years as General Manager of the European Union Youth Orchestra. He has served as a jury member for competitions including BBC Young Musician, the Cadaqués International Conducting Competition, the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, Côr Cymru and the OSM Manulife Competition; in addition, Huw has written and lectured extensively on music. Since 2023, he has been Senior Creative Director at KD SCHMID and Managing Director at Schmid Raab & Boehm. He is married to Miranda and has two teenage children; when not in the concert hall, he is likely to be found either walking with his Border Terrier or trying to improve his golf handicap.