Biography
When Jakub Przybycień studies a score, he always does so from a dual perspective, as an experienced orchestral musician who immediately recognises where the challenges lie, and as a conductor who is always searching for the unique story and sound within each work.
Jakub Przybycień is appointed Assistant Conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons from the 2026/27 season for a period of two years. Jakub was Assistant Conductor to Ludovic Morlot of the Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya from 2023-25. He has been recognised in international conducting competitions and is the designated winner (finalist) of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam 2025, as well as the finalist of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award 2025. Other competitions include semi-finalist in the Malko Conducting Competition, and finalist in both the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and the masterclasses of the Critical Orchestra Berlin. He is the recipient of the Ernst-von-Schuch Prize 2025 and the Neeme Järvi Prize 2021.
Raised in Poland, he achieved early success as a violinist, participating in multiple national and international competitions. He was accepted into the European Union Youth Orchestra, where he worked with conductors such as Bernard Haitink and Manfred Honeck. He studied in Bern with Monika Urbaniak Lisik (2014-2019), earning both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees with distinction. However, from the moment he moved to Switzerland, he saw conducting - and studies with Johannes Schlaefli at the Zurich University of the Arts - as his ultimate goal. Alongside his violin studies, he completed a Bachelor's degree in conducting at the Academy of Music in Wrocław (PL) under Professor Marek Pijarowski. He later obtained his Master’s degree in Music Performance as planned, studying with Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Mueller.
When asked about the most important qualities of a conductor, Jakub lists several: good hands, which allow musical ideas to be conveyed effectively; technical knowledge, encompassing both conducting technique and an understanding of orchestral requirements; and finally, a vision - a clear goal to strive towards. For him, this goal is closely linked to developing a unique personal sound.
Ideally, Jakub believes this sound should always be recognisable while still allowing the stylistic characteristics of each work to shine through. His engagement with historically informed performance has been shaped by his experience with the Baroque violin as well as his conducting work with the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles. Whether he is conducting Tchaikovsky or Ravel, his aim is always to balance his individual interpretation with the essence of the score.
Jakub’s 2026 conducting highlights include debut performances with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Theater Nordhausen/ Loh-Orchester Sondershausen, as well as the Bamberg Symphony during The Mahler Competition 2026. He also returns to the NFM Leopoldinum, Arctic Philharmonic, Opole Philharmonic and Zielona Góra Philharmonic.