Daniel Raiskin – Chief Conductor and Artistic Director

Daniel Raiskin is one of the most respected and versatile conductors of his generation. He has a distinctive artistic voice and, through thoughtfully conceived programs, has built a broad repertoire that extends well beyond the mainstream.

He has collaborated regularly with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava in the past and knows the orchestra very well. He is also a great admirer of the music of Leoš Janáček, which he considers deeply close to him and frequently includes in his repertoire. He follows with keen interest the construction of the new concert hall, into which the orchestra will move during his tenure in Ostrava.

Daniel Raiskin’s appointment was announced as early as May 2024. Since then, he has worked closely with the orchestra as Chief Conductor Designate and Artistic Director Designate. In this role, he is fully involved in repertoire selection and the creation of concert programs—both for the orchestra’s temporary venue at the Vesmír Hall and for the future concert hall—and actively participates in concert and recording projects. From the 2026/27 season, he will officially assume the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the JFO.

From 2020 to 2025, he served as Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic, where he now holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Since August 2018, he has also been Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and since the 2017/2018 season, Principal Guest Conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has previously held positions as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, as well as Chief Conductor of the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie in Koblenz and the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź.

He regularly collaborates with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre National de Lyon, Residentie Orkest, Sinfonia Varsovia, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Among the soloists he has worked with are Emanuel Ax, Rudolf Buchbinder, Renée Fleming, Nelson Freire, Martin Fröst, Vadim Gluzman, Daniel Hope, Lang Lang, Jan Lisiecki, Albrecht Mayer, Anna Vinnitskaya, Lukáš Vondráček, and Alexei Volodin.

He has an extensive discography and is currently engaged in two major recording projects: a complete cycle of Dmitri Shostakovich’s symphonies with the JFO and a complete recording of Franz Schmidt’s orchestral works with the Slovak Philharmonic.

He grew up and studied in St. Petersburg, which he left more than 35 years ago. He continued his studies in Amsterdam and Freiburg. Before taking up conducting, he was an acclaimed violist who performed worldwide as both a soloist and chamber musician. He has lived in the Netherlands and Germany and currently resides near Amsterdam, close to forests, dunes, and the sea. With his Ukrainian wife, he has two adult children who are currently studying at universities in New York and Amsterdam. Besides music, he is passionate about books, cooking, fine wine, and ice hockey.

His predecessors as Chief Conductor of the orchestra include Vassily Sinaisky, Heiko Mathias Förster, Theodore Kuchar, Petr Vronský, Christian Arming, Dennis Burkh, Leoš Svárovský, Tomáš Koutník, Otakar Trhlík, Václav Jiráček, Josef Daniel, and Jiří Waldhans. The very first Chief Conductor of what was then the Ostrava Symphony Orchestra was Otakar Pařík, appointed in 1954.