Branko Ladič

Mgr. art. Branko Ladič, PhD. is a Slovak musicologist, conductor, pianist, and educator. He studied piano and conducting at the Conservatory in Košice and later continued his conducting studies at the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in Bratislava. He earned a degree in musicology at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava and, in 2012, obtained his PhD with the dissertation "Reštauratívne" tendencie v operách Richarda Straussa ("Restorative" Tendencies in the Operas of Richard Strauss).

He completed international internships at the Landestheater Detmold (under Erich Wächter) and at the University and Opera in Leipzig. He also participated in conducting masterclasses as part of the Sommerakademie Prag-Wien-Budapest (2005, Prof. Marek Stringer).

During his studies, he already collaborated as a répétiteur with several choral ensembles and opera soloists. At the Slovak National Theatre Opera, where he works as a conductor and répétiteur, he has contributed to the production of several operas as assistant conductor (Boris Godunov, Svätopluk, Jenůfa, Die Fledermaus, Salome), and as a conductor (Lucrezia Borgia, O čarovnej flaute a iných kúzlach [On The Magic Flute and Other Enchantments], Nepredajme nevestu! [Let’s Not Sell the Bride!]). He has also prepared operatic productions abroad (Brno, Ljubljana, Leipzig) as assistant conductor and répétiteur, and in 2017 conducted Verdi’s Macbeth in Panama.

As a pianist and répétiteur, he has collaborated with leading Slovak and international soloists such as Gabriela Beňačková, Miroslav Dvorský, Jolana Fogašová, Adriana Kohútková, Terézia Kružliaková, Martin Babjak, Ján Babjak, Jakub Pustina, Ján Galla, Eva Šušková, Gustav Beláček, among others, as well as with several choral ensembles. He regularly participates in summer vocal courses led by Peter Dvorský, Gabriela Beňačková, Irena Sylla, and Dagmar Livorová (in Piešťany, Jáchymov, Pelhřimov, Velká Bíteš, and Vilémov). He has also performed in England, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, and Morocco. As a pianist, he collaborated on the project Filharmonická škôlka (Philharmonic Kindergarten) by Tomáš Boroš and the Slovak Philharmonic.