conductor
Alena Hron
Being at the helm of the South Czech Philharmonic since the 2024-25 season, Alena Hron is the first woman to hold the position of chief conductor in the Czech Republic. The appointment came as Alena finished her master's at the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Müller. Previously, Alena Hron studied in Prague and Oslo, and was mentored by Jakub Hrůša and Vasily Petrenko.
In May 2023, her debut at the Prague Spring Festival with the Prague Symphony Orchestra was hailed by several major news outlets as triumphant, and led to an immediate re-invitation. With the Janáček Philharmonic she has recorded the complete orchestral works of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) and in 2024 opened the Krumlov Festival conducting Smetana’s Má vlast to commemorate the composer’s 200th Birthday. She has also guest conducted the Prague Radio Symphony and Prague Philharmonia.
An avid choral conductor, she is one of the co-founders of the prize-winning contemporary music chamber choir Punkt. She ihas conducted performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s La bohème, as well as a new ballet production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
The winner of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, from 2024 to 2026 she receives intensive mentorship and coaching from Marin Alsop and the opportunity to conduct leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In June 2024, when Alsop was guest-conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Hron - as her assistant - made an impression leading a try-out rehearsal of Ellen Reid’s newly commissioned Body Cosmic, resulting in an invitation to conduct the orchestra’s March 2026 children’s concerts.
Being at the helm of the South Czech Philharmonic since the 2024-25 season, Alena Hron is the first woman to hold the position of chief conductor in the Czech Republic. The appointment came as Alena finished her master's at the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Müller. Previously, Alena Hron studied in Prague and Oslo, and was mentored by Jakub Hrůša and Vasily Petrenko.
In May 2023, her debut at the Prague Spring Festival with the Prague Symphony Orchestra was hailed by several major news outlets as triumphant, and led to an immediate re-invitation. With the Janáček Philharmonic she has recorded the complete orchestral works of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) and in 2024 opened the Krumlov Festival conducting Smetana’s Má vlast to commemorate the composer’s 200th Birthday. She has also guest conducted the Prague Radio Symphony and Prague Philharmonia.
An avid choral conductor, she is one of the co-founders of the prize-winning contemporary music chamber choir Punkt. She ihas conducted performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s La bohème, as well as a new ballet production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
The winner of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, from 2024 to 2026 she receives intensive mentorship and coaching from Marin Alsop and the opportunity to conduct leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In June 2024, when Alsop was guest-conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Hron - as her assistant - made an impression leading a try-out rehearsal of Ellen Reid’s newly commissioned Body Cosmic, resulting in an invitation to conduct the orchestra’s March 2026 children’s concerts.
Being at the helm of the South Czech Philharmonic since the 2024-25 season, Alena Hron is the first woman to hold the position of chief conductor in the Czech Republic. The appointment came as Alena finished her master's at the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Müller. Previously, Alena Hron studied in Prague and Oslo, and was mentored by Jakub Hrůša and Vasily Petrenko.
In May 2023, her debut at the Prague Spring Festival with the Prague Symphony Orchestra was hailed by several major news outlets as triumphant, and led to an immediate re-invitation. With the Janáček Philharmonic she has recorded the complete orchestral works of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) and in 2024 opened the Krumlov Festival conducting Smetana’s Má vlast to commemorate the composer’s 200th Birthday. She has also guest conducted the Prague Radio Symphony and Prague Philharmonia.
An avid choral conductor, she is one of the co-founders of the prize-winning contemporary music chamber choir Punkt. She ihas conducted performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s La bohème, as well as a new ballet production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
The winner of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship, from 2024 to 2026 she receives intensive mentorship and coaching from Marin Alsop and the opportunity to conduct leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In June 2024, when Alsop was guest-conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Hron - as her assistant - made an impression leading a try-out rehearsal of Ellen Reid’s newly commissioned Body Cosmic, resulting in an invitation to conduct the orchestra’s March 2026 children’s concerts.