Ivan Repušić (1978), chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Weimar and the first permanent guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, is one of the most important and successful Croatian conductors of younger generation.

He started his professional career in German cultural institutions as the first Kapellmeister of the Lower Saxony State Opera in Hannover (2010–2013). He had his début performance in Deutsche Oper in Berlin with Puccini’s La bohème (2011). Thereafter, he was named Kapellmeister of the renowned opera house (from the 2012/2013 season); since 2014, he has held the new role of the first permanent guest conductor. To date, he has led numerous successful opera performances, including Macbeth, Tosca, Turandot, La bohème, Eugene Onegin, Nabucco, Un ballo in mascera, La traviata, Carmen, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tannhäuser, La Gioconda, Falstaff, Don Carlos, Francesca da Rimini, The Flying Dutchman, etc. From 2016 until 2019, he served as the general music director of the Hannover State Opera. During his tenure, he conducted many opera premieres (Salome, The Damnation of Faust, The Flying Dutchman, Manon Lescaut, Aida, etc.) and symphonic concerts. Since assuming the role of chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra (MRO) in 2017, he has conducted a number of concertante performances of operas (Luisa Miller, The Two Foscari, Attila, The Swallow, Ero the Joker, Ernani…) and orchestral music. He has recorded a number of albums in collaboration with eminent international soloists, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Choir, which were released by leading European labels BR-Klassik, Warner Classics, and CPO. Among them are works by Croatian composers Jakov Gotovac, Igor Kuljerić, Dejan Lazić, Natko Devčić, Ivan Matetić Ronjgov. Many of these recordings won awards such as ICMA, Opus Klassik, Diapason d’Or, Porin. He made his debut as chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Wiemar in August of this year.

He has conducted numerous renowned orchestras in Europe and around the world: Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Bavarian State Orchestra, North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hannover, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan, Mannheim National Theatre Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian National Opera Orchestra in Oslo, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenian, Pannonian and Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestras, the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, etc. He is a regular guest at European festivals and prestigious venues, such as the Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Musikverein in Vienna; Konzerthaus in Berlin; Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden; Gasteig, Herkulessaal, and Prinzregententheater in Munich; Smetana Hall in Prague; Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Hall in Luzern; the Verdi Festival in Parma, the Beethovenfest Bonn etc. He regularly performs in various renowned German opera houses, such as the Bavarian State Opera (Un ballo in mascera), Staatsoper in Berlin (Rigoletto, Tosca), Dresden Semperoper (The Magic Flute, La traviata, Simon Boccanegra, Macbeth, Tosca, Don Carlos, Madama Butterfly, Turandot), Hamburg State Opera (L’elisir d’amore, Rigoletto, La bohème, Tosca, Simon Boccanegra), the Leipzig Opera (Madama Butterfly, The Magic Flute), the Komische Oper Berlin (Rigoletto, La traviata), the Aalto Musiktheater in Essen (Falstaff), the Opernhaus Zürich (I Vespri Siciliani), etc. He is also a welcome guest on prestigious stages outside Europe such as the New National Theater in Tokyo (La traviata).

Ivan Repušić studied conducting at the Academy of Music of the University of Zagreb under Igor Gjadrov and Vjekoslav Šutej. He continued developing his skills with renowned conductors, such as Jorma Panula, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Kazushi Ono, and Donald Runnicles. He started his professional career at the Croatian National Theatre in Split (2002) where he was chief conductor and director of the Opera (2006–2009). He conducted numerous performances of the Italian, French, Russian and Croatian operatic repertoire during that period (G. Verdi: Don Carlos, Aida, Simon Boccanegra, The Troubadour, Nabucco; G. Puccini: Sister Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Manon Lescaut, La bohème; P. I. Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin; Ch. Gounod: Faust; G. Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, The Elixir of Love; G. Rossini: Barber of Seville; R. Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci; J. Gotovac: Ero the Joker; J. Hatze: The Return, etc). He was active as director of music programmes at two renowned Croatian music festivals: Split Summer Festival (2006–2009) and Dubrovnik Summer Festival (2010–2012). He has been collaborating with the Zadar Chamber Orchestra as chief conductor since 2005. He also dedicated his time to teaching at the Arts Academy of the University of Split (2004–2016) where he gained the title of associate professor. He has received numerous Croatian awards for his artistic accomplishments, such as Vladimir Nazor Award, Vatroslav Lisinski Award, Milka Trnina Award, Orlando Award, the City of Zadar Award, Order of the Croatian Star with Effigy of Marko Marulić for exceptional achievements in culture and the promotion of Croatian culture at home and abroad, etc. The Zadar University awarded an honorary doctorate to Maestro Repušić for his extraordinary contribution in the field of culture and art (2021).

From the 2024/2025 season, he takes over the position of chief music director of the Leipzig Opera.