Yoel Gamzou named new Music Director of Polish National Opera

Yoel Gamzou will take the position of Music Director of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera as of the 2026/27 season for a four-year mandate. The young conductor succeeds Patrick Fournillier, who has helmed the orchestra since the 2020/21 season. In his work, Yoel Gamzou expands the boundaries of traditional music performance with passionate intensity and a unique artistic vision. His deeply personal interpretations, relentless interest in new music and uncompromising commitment to communicating with new audiences make him one of the most remarkable representatives of a new generation of conductors.

He first appeared at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in January 2026, when he conducted a symphony concert featuring music by Beethoven, Strauss, and Prokofiev. ‘Perhaps this is what Warsaw needs today: someone young, vibrant, and possessing an original music vision that he is able to execute,’ wrote a critic for Gazeta Wyborcza after the enthusiastically received concert.

Gamzou has also established himself in the world of opera. From 2017 to 2022, he was General Music Director at Theater Bremen. In 2022, he conducted a performance of Die Tote Stadt at the Vienna Staatsoper. This led to frequent appearances In Vienna, as well a number of other major European opera houses, such as the Hamburg Staatsoper and the Bavarian Staatsoper, where he works regularly as guest conductor. This coming season’s opera productions include Fidelio at the Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Opera Festival, Der Freischütz at the Hamburg State Opera, whose premiere he conducted last season, as well as his debut at the Opera National de Montpellier with Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.

‘Opera makes you a better symphony conductor. You learn your technique in opera, where the orchestra must be flexible and responsive to the singer at any given moment. For me, every melody is a voice. Even in symphonic music, everything – be it the cello or the violin – is just an imitation of the human voice. The more I work in opera, the better I am able to give shape to symphonic music,’ the artist said in an interview for Orfeo. ‘Opera needs new forms and the courage to experiment. No art form can survive if it merely rehashes the past. It does not need to be ‘good’ in the traditional sense – it has to open new pathways,’ he added.