At the age of just eleven, Ondřej Vrabec decided to pursue a career in music, which he has now been successfully developing for more than a quarter of a century in several roles – as a conductor, principal horn player with the Czech Philharmonic, chamber musician and teacher.
A graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, he has supplemented his studies with numerous masterclasses (London Master Classes, Hornclass, the French-Czech Academy of Music). The most valuable impulse shaping his artistic approach was his long-term concert collaboration with the elite of the international school of wind (Sergio Azzolini, Maurice Bourgue), whom he met at chamber music courses in Brandýs and Dobříš. He has also taken part in several competitions, from which he has won many awards.
Although he took up the position of principal horn in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of seventeen, before even sitting his school-leaving examinations, this post did not jeopardise his career as a soloist. The success of his solo career is reflected, amongst other things, in his collaborations with numerous prestigious domestic and international orchestras and leading conductors. He has also performed for audiences in many solo recitals. In the past, he was also heavily involved in chamber music, performing with ensembles such as the Brahms Trio Prague, the PhilHarmonia Octet and the Czech Philharmonic Horn Club. As a guest principal horn player, he was regularly invited to perform with orchestras abroad (Seoul Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Tonkünstler Wien).
Alongside his career as a horn player, Ondřej Vrabec also pursues a successful career as a conductor. Since the 2022/2023 season, he has been chief conductor of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra and has already guest-conducted with most Czech professional orchestras – for example, he led the Prague Chamber Philharmonic’s first-ever tours to South Korea (2011) and China (2012–2013). At his home orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, he served as assistant to Chief Conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. He has also conducted a number of foreign orchestras (the Japan Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Oradea State Philharmonic) and appeared at international festivals (Prague Spring, Anima Mundi, Mitte Europa). For many years, he was a permanent member of the international team of conductors at the world-renowned festivals of contemporary music, Ostrava Days and NODO.
He has produced a vast number of studio and live recordings for Czech Radio, as well as numerous CD releases, which have received rave reviews from leading music publications such as BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone and Pizzicato. There are also numerous recordings of contemporary compositions for a wide variety of instrumental ensembles featuring the French horn, the creation of which he has directly or indirectly inspired and premiered, and most of which are dedicated to him.
He passes on the playing skills he has acquired to his students at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and through masterclasses, which he frequently leads not only in the Czech Republic but also in Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. He plays extraordinary Czech instrument LHR 883 “Tribute”, which he developed together with manufacture Josef Lídl.
