Czech Philharmonic • Charles Dutoit

In the modern history of the Czech Philharmonic, when the first steps were being taken towards an educational programme, the idea arose in 2006 – while Václav Riedlbauch was still the executive director – of giving symphonic concerts for student audiences, i.e. for a new generation of listeners. The choice fell to the former Prague (later Czech) Youth Orchestra, an ensemble with many years of tradition of a youthful, enthusiastic approach to music. This worked wonderfully because the students in the audience saw their peers on stage. Bound by their love of music, these musicians gave performances from 2006 to 2010 under the leadership of the conductor Marko Ivanović, playing such works as Janáček’s Sinfonietta, Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Cello Concerto, and Te Deum, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet suite.

When new management took over in 2011, the Czech Philharmonic greatly expanded its educational activities, and that was an opportunity for renewal of the student orchestra’s activities, renamed as the Czech Youth Philharmonic. The idea is to give the rising generation of musicians – mostly students at music schools, whether grammar schools with a music emphasis, conservatoires, or academies of music – the regular opportunity of rehearsing and performing great symphonic, concertante, and choral works. Over time, the efforts turned towards creating a permanent orchestra that would support its members in the perfecting of their ensemble playing and in the creation of long-term relationships and mutual understanding. The Czech Youth Philharmonic musicians also serve as “bearers of light” in relation to their peers by showing them that young people can love classical music and can present it enthusiastically to others.

Since the 2013/2014 season, the orchestra has been performing regularly at concerts of the Czech Philharmonic’s educational series Four Steps to the New World (under the baton of Marko Ivanović), and at the series Penguins at the Rudolfinum (with Vojtěch Jouza) and Who’s Afraid of the Philharmonic? (with Ondřej Vrabec). In April 2019, the Czech Youth Philharmonic appeared with Ida Kelarová and the Čhavorenge children’s choir at Šun Devloro concerts – musical celebrations of International Romani Day. In November 2019, the orchestra played under the baton of Robert Kružík at the Students’ Day Concert with the participation of Joachim Gauck and Petr Pithart.

In June 2020, the conductor Simon Rattle came to Prague insisting that he did not want to conduct just the Czech Philharmonic, but also “some orchestra with young people.” When the choice fell to the Czech Youth Philharmonic, that was an enormous challenge for its members. Sir Simon enjoyed working with the young musicians, and he was unsparing in his praise: “The Czech Youth Philharmonic reminds me of the orchestra of the Verbier Festival, which is made up of the best music students from all around the world, led by players from the Metropolitan Opera. That’s the level they are on.” In February 2021, the Czech Youth Philharmonic first appeared under the baton of chief conductor Semyon Bychkov in the televised concert “A přece se učí” (“But Learning Continues”).

In the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 seasons, the Czech Youth Philharmonic debuted as part of the Czech Philharmonicʼs subscription concerts with conductors Semyon Bychkov, Giovanni Antonini, and Jakub Hrůša. In the “Steps into the New World” series, young musicians, under the baton of Marko Ivanović, performed works by Bizet, Grieg, Smetana, Vivaldi, Piazzolla, Mussorgsky, and others.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir (PPC), founded in 1935 by the choirmaster Jan Kühn, is the oldest professional mixed choir in the Czech Republic. Their current choirmaster and artistic director is Lukáš Vasilek, and the second choirmaster is Lukáš Kozubík.

The choir has earned the highest acclaim in the oratorio and cantata repertoire, performing with the world’s most famous orchestras. In this country, they collaborate regularly with the Czech Philharmonic and the Prague Philharmonia. They also perform opera as the choir-in-residence of the opera festival in Bregenz, Austria.

Programmes focusing mainly on difficult, lesser-known works of the choral repertoire. For voice students, they are organising the Academy of Choral Singing, and for young children there is a cycle of educational concerts.

The choir has been honoured with the 2018 Classic Prague Award and the 2022 Antonín Dvořák Prize.

Lukáš Vasilek studied conducting and musicology. Since 2007, he has been the chief choirmaster of the Prague Philharmonic Choir (PPC). Most of his artistic work with them involves rehearsing and performing a cappella repertoire and preparing them to perform in large-scale cantatas, oratorios, and operatic projects in collaboration with world-famous conductors and orchestras (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, etc.).

In addition to leading the PPC, he is active in a wide range of artistic projects, most notably in collaboration with the vocal ensemble Martinů Voices, which he founded in 2010. As a conductor and choirmaster, he appears on numerous recordings for major international labels, including Decca Classics and Supraphon. In recent years, he has focused systematically on recording the choral music of Bohuslav Martinů. His recordings have received extraordinary worldwie acclaim and have earned awards from prestigious publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Diapason.

Captivating audiences throughout the world for over six decades, Charles Dutoit has been one of today's most sought-after conductors, having performed with all the major orchestras on five continents. He received two of the most prestigious honours in the music world: in 2017, the gold medal of the "Royal Philharmonic Society" and the "Premio una Vita nella Musica 2022" from the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Former Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, he has enjoyed an artistic collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra that spanned 32 years. He has regularly appeared with the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and has been a regular guest on the stages of London, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Hamburg, Moscow, Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai. 

Charles Dutoit was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for twenty-five years and held the same position from 1991 to 2011 with the Orchestre National de France. He is "Music Director Emeritus" of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo after having served as Principal Conductor and Music Director. Charles Dutoit's interest in mentoring the young generation has led to positions as Music Director of the Sapporo Pacific Music Festival and Miyazaki International Music Festival in Japan as well as the Canton International Summer Music Academy in Guangzhou, China and the Lindenbaum Festival in Seoul, South Korea. Music Director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra between 2009 and 2017, he is now "Conductor Emeritus". He has toured China 35 times, giving Chinese Premieres of such works as Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Britten's War Requiem, Strauss' Operas, Elektra and Salome. 

When still in his early 20’s, Charles Dutoit was invited by Karajan to conduct at the Vienna State Opera. He has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Rome Opera and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 2014, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Classical Music Awards and received the Gold Medal from the city of Lausanne in 2016. His more than 200 recordings have garnered multiple awards and distinctions including two Grammys. A globetrotter motivated by his passion for history and archaeology, political science, art and architecture, he has traveled in all 196 nations of the world.