Christian Benda is descended from a long line of musicians. First guest conductor of the Turin Philharmonic, he appears worldwide with orchestras including the Prague Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic, Orchestra della Toscana, I Pomeriggi Musicali, Polish National Opera, Budapest Concert Orchestra MÁV, Slovenian Philharmonic, Cyprus State, Moscow Virtuosi, Sinfonieorchester Münster, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Ulster Orchestra, Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the Suisse Romande Orchestra, and is invited by festivals such as Schwetzingen, Echternach/Luxembourg, Cité de la musique Paris, Prague Spring, George Enescu Bucharest, Hong Kong Arts, Klangbogen Wien, and the Menuhin Festival in Switzerland.

Christian Benda is chief conductor and artistic director of the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra of the Velvet Revolution with which he has recorded numerous standard classical works, as well as the complete overtures of Schubert [Naxos 8.570328 and 8.570329] and Rossini [8.570933, 8.570934, 8.570935, 8.572735]. Singers such as Renée Fleming, Barbara Hendricks, Cheryl Studer and Simon Estes have appeared under his baton. As a composer, his micro-operas have been created at the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Prague Smetana Hall. In collaboration with the Vienna State Opera he has devised a new introduction to opera for the general public and young people, High-Lights and Micro-Opera, based on Goethe’s colour theory, with the participation of narrator and dancers.

Carrying the Torch: Christian Benda talks to Jeremy Siepmann