A composer, pianist and flautist since his childhood, Zdeněk Klauda studied at the Jan Neruda Music Grammar School (composition under the tutelage of M. Kubička, the flute with V. Paulík and the piano with D. Souleimannová). Subsequently, he took conducting lessons from H. Farkač. After graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2005, he joined the National Theatre, where he has been permanently engaged (currently serving as an assistant conductor and head of music preparations). His compositions have been published by the US’s Alliance Publications, Inc. In 2008, Zdeněk Klauda was invited to prepare a production of Dvořák’s Rusalka for the Salzburger Festspiele. Ever since, he has performed at a number of prestigious opera houses throughout Europe, including the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opera Valencia and Opera National de Paris. In 2012, he co-prepared the music for a production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne, where in the next season he participated in the staging of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. In 2015, he was invited to work on productions of Janáček’s Jenůfa and Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Staatsoper Hannover. In 2012, he came third at an international conductors’ competition in Romania. He has assisted conductors of such renown as F. Welser-Möst, K. Petrenko, V. Jurowski and T. Netopil. In 2014, he founded L’Armonia Terrena, a chamber orchestra specialising in performing rediscovered pieces by Czech Classical composers. The ensemble launched their activities by recording with the soprano S. Šaturová the CD Decade, featuring Mysliveček’s and Mozart’s arias, which has been highly praised by the prestigious music magazine Diapason. Their most recent album, made in 2016, contains the world premiere recording of Jakub Jan Ryba’s Latin Stabat Mater, which has received the coveted Diapason d‘Or award.
