Barbara Dragan

Described by the Berliner Morgenpost as “a conductor of high intelligence, precision and structural clarity”, Barbara Dragan is already on the path to a successful international career leading such prestigious orchestras as Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Tonkünstler Orchester, RTVE Orquesta y Coro Madrid, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Malmö Symphony, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Croatian Radio and Television Orchestra, Junge Norddeutsche Philharmonie, on tour, NOSPR Katowice. A former Young Associate Conductor at Orchestre National de France working closely with Cristian Macelaru, she has been mentored by Roger Norrington, Kazuki Yamada, John Carewe, Simone Rattle, Trevor Pinnock and Marin Alsop and is an award recipient of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship (TACF). In 2024 Barbara conducted the pre-recordings for the entire Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics with both Orchestre de Paris and Orchestre National de France. The part of the recording featuring Gojira and Marina Viotti won a GRAMMY Award in 2025.

In the 2026/27 season, Barbara will debut with the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, Aichi Chamber Orchestra, Lahti Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, China National Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Bochumer Symphoniker, Göttinger Symphonie Orchester, Odense Symphony, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Mulhouse, Orchestre National d’Avignon and return to the Beethoven Orchester Bonn and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.

Barbara has held fellowships at the Cabrillo New Music Festival in Santa Cruz, Ravinia Festival in Chicago and was appointed Conducting Fellow at the Dallas Opera for the 2021/22 season. She was a finalist in several international conducting competitions, including the Mahler Competition in Bamberg, the Princess Astrid Competition in Trondheim, the Svetlanov Competition in Monaco, and the German Conducting Prize in Cologne. Barbara is a current holder of the Deutsche Bank Stiftung Akademie Musiktheater Heute scholarship.

A graduate of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and the Universität der Künste Berlin, Barbara Dragan was born into a Polish family of scientists. She began playing the violin at the age of five. During her violin and oboe studies, she passed her final exams in mathematics and physics and currently plays the baroque violin.