Ainārs Rubiķis came to international attention as winner of the Third International Gustav Mahler conducting competition in 2010. In 2011 he was announced recipient of the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award and subsequently conducted the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester at the Salzburg Festival. From 2012-14 he served as Musical Director of Novosibirsk State Opera House. He has recently been announced as Music Director of the Komische Oper Berlin from 2018/19.
Plans for the 2017/18 season include debuts with Welsh National Opera (Eugene Onegin), Jyväskylä Sinfonia (St Matthew Passion) and at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik and return visits to Komische Oper Berlin (The Nose), Finnish National Opera (La traviata), Filharmonia Poznanska and Orchestre National d’Ile de France.