Principal Guest Conductor
János Kovács

János Kovács graduated from Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music as a student of András Kórodi and Albert Simon in 1973.
Immediately after his graduation he joined the Hungarian State Opera House as a répétiteur, and became a conductor there in 1976. He was principal conductor with the Opera House from 1987 to 1990, and a music assistant at the Bayreuth Festival between 1979 and 1981. A regular guest conductor of the three major orchestras of Budapest, he also regularly conducts the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
János Kovács was principal guest conductor with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and a permanent one (1992–1998), and later principal guest conductor (since 1998) with the Tokyo Philharmonics. He has been a guest conductor in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and appeared on stages in Berlin and London with the company of the Hungarian State Opera House. He has toured in Germany and Brazil with the National Philharmonics. János Kovács was highly successful as a conductor of operas and concerts in Karlsruhe, at the Badisches Staatstheater and the Bratislava National Theatre. His debut at the Berlin Komische Oper was also a success in January 2011.
He has contributed to numerous recordings of Hungaroton, Naxos, RCA Red Seal and Delta. In addition to outstanding Hungarian artists – such as Ildikó Komlósi, Éva Marton, Andrea Rost, László Polgár, Zoltán Kocsis, Dezső Ránki and János Starker –, he has also worked with international artists including Agnes Baltsa, Thomas Hampson, Leonidas Kavakos and Sergei Nakariakov.
János Kovács has been a principal guest conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra since 2001, and was an acting Director of Music at the Hungarian State Opera House in 2003 and 2006–2007. He has been Principal Conductor with the Opera House since the autumn of 2007. His repertoire ranges from classical and romantic operas to contemporary pieces.
During his career he has received many awards: Vilmos Komor Memorial Plaquette (1980), Liszt Prize (1985), Gusztáv Oláh Memorial Plaquette (1991), Merited Artist award (1996), Kossuth Prize (2001), Inter Lyra Award (2003), Gundel Artistic Award (2004) and Bartók-Pásztory Prize (2007).