Juraj Valčuha, a native of Bratislava, is an internationally recognized conductor. He studied conducting and composition in Bratislava, St. Petersburg and Paris, where in 2005 he made his debut with the Orchester National de France. Numerous invitations from other orchestras followed, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, and many others. Since the 2017/18 season, he has been the main guest conductor of the Berlin Konzerthausorchestra. He has conducted several world premieres of works by contemporary authors. From 2009 to 2016, he was the chief conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and since 2016 music director at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy.

Many operas were performed under his baton. He has conducted La Bohéme, Jenufa, Petr Grimes, Salome, Faust, Tristan and Isolde, Turandot, Elektra, Carmen, Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Valkyrie, The Girl of the West, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Katya Kabanova, The Queen of Spades and many others. He has performed at major opera stages in several countries around the world. Among other recognitions for his work, in 2018 he received the Premio Abbiati award from Italian music critics in the Best Conductor category.