Fayçal Karoui

The Tunisian-French conductor Fayçal Karoui studied at the conservatoires in Saint-Maurdes-Fossés and Paris. He won a prize at the Concours de Jeunes Chefs d’Orchestre, in Besançon, in 1991, and first prize for conducting the orchestra of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, in 1997. On an Aida scholarship, he worked under Michel Plasson with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, after which he became Plasson’s assistant. He went on to become the conductor of Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn, where he devoted himself to bringing classical music to the attention of a wide public.

From 2006 to 2012, Karoui was a conductor with New York City Ballet and from 2012 to 2014 he conducted Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris. He has also led numerous renowned orchestras, including Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, New Japan Philharmonic and St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Karoui regularly conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker for ballet performances at the Wiener Staatsoper. In 2013, Karoui was made a Chevalier in the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres. Fayçal Karoui has previously conducted the Dutch Ballet Orchestra for the programmes Best of Balanchine in 2016, Best of Balanchine III in 2019 and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King in 2021.