Ainārs Rubiķis

Latvian-born, Ainars Rubikis came to international attention as the winner of the 2010 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition. The following year, he was recipient of the second Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and subsequently conducted the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester at the Salzburger Festspiele.

In July 2023, it was announced that Ainars would become the next General Music Director of the Staatstheater Kassel, beginning from the 2025/26 season for an initial term of three years.

From 2018 – 2022, Ainars served as Music Director of Komische Oper Berlin, gaining critical praise for his consistent high-quality performances across such a diverse range of operatic repertoire.He previously served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre from 2012 to 2014, and was awarded a prestigious Golden Mask Award as “Best Conductor” for the Company’s new production of Bernstein’s Mass. He won his second ‘Best Conductor’ Golden Mask award in 2020 for his new production of Rusalka with the Bolshoi Theatre.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include a four-concert tour of Taiwan and Japan with the National Taiwan Symphony, conducting the opening concert of the George Enescu Festival, debuts with Adelaide Symphony, Staatsorchester Hannover and NFM Wroclaw alongside acclaimed return visits to Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck, Orchestre National de Montpellier and Orchestre National d'Ile de France. The 2024/25 season will also see Ainars make his UK/London opera debut, conducting The Marriage of Figaro with English National Opera.