Fayçal Karoui
“The music throughout is beautifully performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, directed with speed and finesse by former New York City Ballet conductor Fayçal Karoui.”
The Guardian, April 2025
As one of the most sought-after ballet conductors, Fayçal Karoui regularly collaborates with international companies such as Paris Opera Ballet, Wiener Staatsballett, The Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet and Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, among many others. From 2006 to 2012, he served as Music Director of the New York City Ballet.
Faycal opens the 2025/26 season conducting Swan Lake at Semperoper Dresden, where he later returns for Sleeping Beauty. He rejoins Hong Kong Ballet for Romeo and Juliette in the autumn, and Nutcracker at Christmas. This season also sees him return to the Opera di Roma and Opéra de Paris.
Chief Conductor of Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn since 2002, Karoui is deeply committed to education and outreach. He regularly works with leading international soloists as Alexandre Kantorow, Sir Stephen Hough, Alexandre Tharaud, Bertrand Chamayou, Nemanja Radulović, Daishin Kashimoto and Gautier Capuçon. From 2012 to 2014, he succeeded Yutaka Sado as Music Director of the legendary Orchestre Lamoureux, notably leading with a highly acclaimed production of Fauré’s Pénélope in June 2013, with Roberto Alagna and Anna-Caterina Antonacci as soloists.
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As a dynamic symphonic conductor, Karoui has appeared with major symphonic orchestras including Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi (Milan), Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Hong-Kong Sinfonietta, New Japan Philharmonic and Brussels Philharmonic.
Born in Paris in 1971, Karoui studied piano and conducting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he won first prize in orchestral conducting and joined the advanced class. He later became assistant to Michel Plasson at the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, a collaboration that enabled him to develop a wide-ranging symphonic and operatic repertoire.
In March 2013, he was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Contacts
François Guyard Senior Director, General Manager HarrisonParrott Paris
“The music throughout is beautifully performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, directed with speed and finesse by former New York City Ballet conductor Fayçal Karoui.”