Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra

Thursday, January 16th, 2025 / 7:00 pm

Performing and continuously growing for 26 years, the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra has earned an enviable reputation among both Czech and Europe's top symphonic ensembles. Renowned for its versatility, the orchestra annually presents a broad programme ranging from classical music concerts to contemporary genres, film scores, jazz and musicals.

The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1908, during which the orchestra performed its first concerts under the direction of Bohuslav Martinů. The orchestra is famous for performing the works of Dvorak, Smetana, Martinů, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert.

Over the course of its existence, the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra has developed an extremely extensive and varied repertoire. Focuses mainly on the great composers of world music of the 19th and 20th centuries, however, it also promotes contemporary Czech and world music, as evidenced by the performance of more than 250 new compositions. The orchestra also ranks among the authentic interpreters of the classics of Czech national music culture: Antonín Dvorák, Bedrich Smetana, Leoŝe Janáĉek a Bohuslav Martinů.

The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra has had legendary composers and conductors including Gustav Mahler, Vítêzslava Kaprálová, Josef Suk, Václav Neumann, Karel Anĉerl, Herbert von Karajan, as well as Michael Gielen, Jean Martinen, Manfred Honeck, Elijahu inbal, and Bela Bartok, to name but a few of the international conductors who have collaborated with the orchestra.

In addition, the soloists that have worked with the orchestra include Elaine Primo, Daniil Trifonov, Hilary Hahn, Ray Chen, Emanuel Ax, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Peter Serkin.

The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra has a rich discography and performs at major international music festivals at home and abroad. Above all, it is a cultural institution that contributes substantially to the organisation of artistic and concert life in the Czech Republic. It organizes the Czech Dvo&rring;ák festival and the International Organ Festival Olomouc. Its activities also include a range of educational activities for children and young people.

The orchestra will embark on its first United states tour in 2025, in 20 of America's leading cultural centers. Their repertoire will include works from Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert and more.



Pavel Šnajdr (born in 1975) studied composition and conducting at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno.

He was a member of the composers' society Bezmocná hrstka (Helpless Handful) and his works have earned him two awards in the Generation competition. Keenly interested in performing contemporary music, he and the Brno-based ensemble Ars incognita have premiered approximately 40 pieces by present-day composers, some of which have been recorded on CD. In 2001 the ensemble gave an independent concert at the Prague Spring festival and in 2005 within the Prague Premieres festival at the Rudolfinum.

He has collaborated with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, North Bohemia Philharmonic Orchestra Teplice and the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, and on two occasions conducted concerts at the Music Forum festival in Hradec Králové.

From 2001 to 2008, Pavel Šnajdr was engaged at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň, where besides the operatic repertoire he also performed music for productions of both classical and modern ballet works (the world premiere of The Garden, based on Jiří Trnka's eponymous book, to Zbyněk Matějů's music).

Between 2004 and 2007 he worked at the National Theatre in Brno, with which he toured Japan with a production of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Mozart and Salieri; at the present time, he is engaged in Brno again.

In the 2007/08 season, Pavel Šnajdr was invited to work as a guest at the Stage Opera Prague, in April 2008 he prepared the music and conducted the world premiere of Malásek and Vaculík's ballet The Phantom of the Opera. In the 2008/09 season he received a permanent engagement at the State Opera Prague as conductor of ballet performances. In the 2011/12 season he served as chief conductor of the Opera of the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc.

In 2011, Šnajdr established the BCO – Brno Contemporary Orchestra, which mainly focuses on performing contemporary music. with the BCO he has already performed more than a hundred concerts as part of individual concert series, but also as part of international festivals such as Prague Spring, Janáček Brno, Exposition of New Music, Easter Festival of Spiritual Hubda, Moravian Autumn, Malta Arts Festival, Festival of Polish Music in Krakow.
They are also very often approached to record contemporary music, regularly collaborating with the American record label Parma Recordings, where they also released their debut album with the new My Country after Bedřich Smetana.

He has recently established himself very well in recording contemporary classical music and has made many recordings not only with his ensemble BCO, but also with the Brno Philharmonic and SOČR.