Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Juraj Valčuha is recognized for the effortless expressiveness and the depth of his musicianship. With a sharp baton technique and a natural stage presence, it is the impressive ease of his interpretations that translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences.  

Since June 2022, Juraj Valčuha has been music director of the Houston Symphony. He was music director of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was also chief conductor of the RAI National Symphony in Turin from 2009 to 2016. 

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, he studied composition and conducting in Saint Petersburg and Paris. His international career began in 2004 on the podium of the Orchestre National de France, followed by debuts in the United Kingdom with the Philharmonia Orchestra, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, and in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has since conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Filarmonica della Scala, NHK Symphony and Montréal Symphony 

His engagements in 2024-2025 took him to the Houston, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Chicago as well as to the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo. On the European stage he performs Tristan & Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Salomé at the Semperoper in Dresden, The Cunning little Vixen at the Paris Opéra Bastille. He leads concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the NDR Hamburg, SWR Stuttgart, the London Philharmonic and the Munich Philharmonic   

Prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition and SONY Classical exclusive artist, Pablo Ferrández is hailed as a “new cello genius” (Le Figaro). A captivating performer, “Ferrández has the lot: technique, mettle, spirit, authority as a soloist, expressivity and charm” (El Pais).

In March 2021 he released his debut album under SONY Classical, “Reflections”, which was highly acclaimed by the critics and praised with the Opus Klassik Award 2021. In Fall 2022 Ferrández will be releasing his second album, which comprises Brahms Double Concerto, performed with Anne-Sophie Mutter, the Czech Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck, as well as Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio, performed with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis.

Recent highlights included appearances with LA Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Bayersichen Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Israel Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony and the Artist-in-residence positions at the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Tenerife Symphony and Orquesta de Valencia.

The 22/23 season will bring the return to the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, his debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Radio Symphony, the tour with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the London Philharmonic through Europe, a Spanish tour with the Antwerp Symphony under Elim Chan, the returns with Santa Cecilia Orchestra under D. Gatti, Konzerthaus Orchester under A. Poga, Baltimore Symphony under K. Ryan, as well as debuts with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala under R.Chailly, Oslo Philharmonic under V.Petrenko, Tonkuenstler Orchestra under R. Trevino, Indianapolis Symphony under L. Gonzalez-Granados and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester under E.Yashima.

Ferrández will appear in recital at the Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Koln Philharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, Palau de la Música Catalana, Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao, at the Schloss-Elmau and Sion Festivals, and will also be Artist-in-residence of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, Pablo frequently collaborates with such artists as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Janine Jansen, Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich, Denis Kozhukhin, Gidon Kremer, Yuja Wang, Nikolay Lugansky, Beatrice Rana, Maxim Rysanov, Alice Sara Ott, Elena Bashkirova, Luis del Valle and Sara Ferrández.

Born in Madrid in 1991, in a family of musicians, Pablo Ferrández joined the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía when he was 13 to study with Natalia Shakhovskaya. After that he completed his studies at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson and became scholar of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.

Mr. Ferrández plays the Stradivarius “Lord Aylesford” (1696) thanks to the Nippon Music Foundation and the Stradivarius “Archinto” 1689, on a generous life-long loan from a member of the Stretton Society.