Orchestra

Czech National Symphony Orchestra is a leading Czech ensemble that has been one of the most sought-after orchestras in Europe for more than 30 years. Its glowing reputation can be attributed to the members’ versatility, performing a wide range of genres, spanning classical works, filmmusic and jazz, as well as musicals, which attract large domestic and international audiences.

It was founded by trumpeter Jan Hasenöhrl and legendary conductor Zdeněk Košler in 1993. Zdeněk Košler worked with the CNSO until 1995. The ensemble then enjoyed ten wonderful years under the direction of American conductor Paul Freeman (1996–2006). From 2007 the orchestra was led by chief conductor Libor Pešek. This partnership was exceptional, whether they were working together in concert during their subscription series or on the five hugely successful tours around Great Britain. In the spring of 2019, following the departure of Libor Pešek, the post of conductor was assumed by American artist Steven Mercurio. This outstanding musician, a pupil of Leonard Bernstein, has been working with the orchestra for several years now, a collaboration that continues to deliver a number of interesting projects.

In the CNSO’s Studio No. 1, the orchestra has also recorded music for Tarantino’s western The Hateful Eight. On the strength of the aforementioned concert collaboration, the composer Ennio Morricone also booked the Czech National Symphony Orchestra for a recording, and they subsequently created a truly exceptional soundtrack together at London’s famous Abbey Road Studios. Morricone’s music went on to pick up a number of awards, among them a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Oscar.

Since 2005, the CNSO has organized the Prague Proms International Music Festival, and it is also its resident ensemble. In addition to its subscription series the orchestra also travels abroad on international tours. Alongside almost all countries in Europe, the CNSO has performed in places as far flung as the United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea, China, Dubai, Oman, Canada and Mexico.

In the spring of 2016, the orchestra travelled on a tour of the United States, where (after a successful concert at the 2015 Prague Proms festival) it performed a spectacular show Disney Fantasia: Live in Concert. 2017 saw the orchestra head off on a month-long European tour with film composers Ennio Morricone and James Newton Howard. 2018 brought an interesting opportunity for the orchestra to tour Europe with the acclaimed musical La La Land, and notably, as part of the Symphonic Cinema project, they toured the UK for nearly two months, performing a programme of box-office Hollywood evergreens, conducted by Ben Palmer.

Here it has earned several gold CDs for the sale of more than 30,000 media, also the Gustav Mahler Prize for the interpretation of the composer’s works (between 2007 and 2017, led by Libor Pešek, the CNSO made a complete recording of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies) and, in particular, prestigious contracts with IMG Artists in London and APM in New York. A long-term recording project in cooperation with the Japanese publishing house JVC Victor Entertainment stands out as yet another significant achievement, so far resulting in fifty CDs and 8 DVDs. In the studio, the orchestra recorded, among others, the Christmas album of the famous tenors Plácido Domingo and Vittorio Grigolo.