Students of Jiří Bělohlávek
The conductor's legacy and memory live on not only through recordings, awards, or places, but are also kept alive through the artistic work of Bělohlávek's students — Jakub Hrůša, Tomáš Hanus, Tomáš Netopil, and others. Like Jiří Bělohlávek, all of these artists are deeply devoted to opera.
Jakub Hrůša
Currently one of the most prominent representatives of Czech musical culture and the Czech school of conducting on the world stage — since autumn 2016 he has been chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in Bamberg, Bavaria, and since September 2025 he has served as music director of London's Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, where, as a guest, he had previously conducted Bizet's Carmen and Wagner's Lohengrin.
He is a regular guest at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where he has conducted such operas as Mozart's Don Giovanni, Puccini's La Bohème, and Britten's The Turn of the Screw. At the Paris National Opera he conducted Dvořák's Rusalka and Lehár's The Merry Widow; at the Vienna State Opera, Janáček's The Makropulos Affair; and at the Frankfurt Opera, Puccini's Il Trittico. From the 2028/29 season, Jakub Hrůša will also become chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic.
Tomáš Hanus
Since 2017 he has been music director of the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. He has conducted Rusalka and The Makropulos Affair at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and at the Vienna State Opera he conducted Rusalka and Jenůfa.
Tomáš Netopil
Between 2013 and 2023 he served as music director and chief conductor of the Aalto-Theater opera house and its orchestra in the German city of Essen. Among other operas, he prepared Mozart's Idomeneo and Beethoven's Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera, and in October 2022 he conducted Janáček's Káťa Kabanová at the Grand Theatre in Geneva.
Since the 2025/26 season he has also been chief conductor and music director of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He is currently preparing opera productions at the Berlin State Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He is also planning a collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony.