Czech National Philharmonic
February 11 Tuesday at 7:30 pm
EJ THOMAS HALL
World-famous orchestra
The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the leading and oldest symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic. Based in the historic capital of Moravia, it is in its 79th season and was founded immediately after the end of the Second World War.
Important personalities of the Czech and international music scene participated in the artistic formation of The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra. Among them: conductors Otto Klemperer and Václav Neumann, violinists Josef Suk and Gidon Kremer, and cellist Pierre Fournier. Focusing mainly on the great composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, the orchestra 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 Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Leoše Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů.
Watch the Czech National Philharmonic perform.
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
Conducted by Maestro Pavel Snajdr, the program features Smetana’s Overture to The Bartered Bride and Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 53 and Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70.
ABOUT THE CZECH NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC
The Czech Philharmonic proudly represents the Czech Republic internationally as an esteemed and cherished cultural ambassador. Since its founding, the all-Czech orchestra has championed the music and composers of its homeland. Its past is inextricably woven to that of the Czech Republic, particularly through Bedřich Smetana’s Má vlast (My Homeland), considered by many to be the country’s unofficial national anthem.
ABOUT THE
CONDUCTOR:
PAVEL ŠNAJDR
Pavel Šnajdr studied composition and conducting at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. 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.
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 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. I
n 2011 Šnajdr established the BCO (Brno Contemporary Orchestra) which 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, and Festival of Polish Music in Krakow.
