The Prague Symphony Orchestra (

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, cs, Symfonický orchestr hlavního města Prahy ''FOK'') is a Czech orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra has traditionally been known by the acronym 'FOK', standing for 'Film-Opera-Koncert', reflecting the orchestra's fields of activity as envisioned by its founder. When the city of

made the orchestra its official concert ensemble in 1952, it retained the acronym, giving it the official title 'Symphony Orchestra of the Capital City of Prague – FOK'.

Rudolf Pekárek Rudolf Pekárek (24 February 190026 October 1974) was a Czechs, Czech-Australian conductor. In 1934 he founded the Prague Symphony Orchestra, giving work to many unemployed musicians. It was known as the FOK Orchestra (Film – Opera – Konzert ...

founded the orchestra in 1934. In the 1930s the orchestra performed the scores for many

Czech films Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech ...

, and also appeared regularly on Czech radio. An early promoter of the orchestra was Václav Smetáček, who became the orchestra's chief conductor in 1942, and held the post for the next 30 years. After Smetáček’s departure from the post of chief conductor, artistic leadership was taken over in succession by Ladislav Slovák (1972–1976), Jindřich Rohan (1976–1977), and then

Jiří Bělohlávek Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...

(1977–1989), whose work marked an important stage from the standpoint of the ensemble’s intensive artistic development. After Bělohlávek came

Petr Altrichter Petr Altrichter (born May 24, 1951 in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech people, Czech conducting, conductor. He studied French horn and conducting at the Conservatory of Music in Ostrava. He also studied at the Janáček Acad ...

(1990–1992), Martin Turnovský (1992–1995), and Gaetano Delogu (1995–1998). Other important Czech conductors who have worked with the orchestra for an extensive time include Václav Neumann,

Zdeněk Košler Zdeněk Košler (March 25, 1928 – July 2, 1995) was a Czechoslovak conductor, who played an important role in Czechoslovak musical life of the second half of 20th century, notably during the 1960s and 1980s.Sleeve note of the Supraphon CD (SU 007 ...

, and Vladimír Válek. From March 2001 to the end of the 2005/2006 concert season, the Chief Conductor and Music Director of the orchestra was

Serge Baudo Serge Baudo (born 16 July 1927) is a French conductor, the son of the oboist Étienne Baudo. He is the nephew of the cellist Paul Tortelier. Baudo was conductor of the Orchestra of Radio Nice from 1959 to 1962. He then served as permanent conduct ...

. Since the 2006/2007 concert season, Jiří Kout has held the position of Chief Conductor, whilst Serge Baudo is the honorary Conductor. In 2015/2016–2019/2020

Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen (born 29 April 1980, Kouvola, Finland) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. Biography Inkinen began violin and piano studies at age 4. As a youth, he also performed in a rock band. He attended the Sibelius Academy and gradu ...

was Chief Conductor. Tomáš Brauner assumed the role of Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra in September 2020. The orchestra built its reputation and respect by cooperation with internationally recognized conductors ( Georg Solti, Seiji Ozawa,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (russian: Генна́дий Никола́евич Рожде́ственский; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. ...

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie ...

etc.) and top soloists.

Chief conductors

* Rudolf Pekárek (1934-1942) * Václav Smetáček (1942–1972) * Ladislav Slovák (1972–1976) * Jindřich Rohan (1976–1977) *

(1977–1989) *

(1990–1992) * Martin Turnovský (1992–1995) * Gaetano Delogu (1995–1998) *

(2001–2006) * Jiří Kout (2006–2013) *

Muhai Tang Muhai Tang (; born 1949 in Shanghai) is a Chinese conductor. He is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Tang Xiaodan and brother of painter and poet Tang Muli. Tang initially learned music with his parents, and later studied ...

(2013-2014) *

(2015–2020) * Tomáš Brauner (2020–present)

Contribution in rock crossover projects

Since 1995 the orchestra has been part of several crossover projects, which aim to mix metal and classical music together. The most important are: * The

Lingua Mortis ''Lingua Mortis'' is the eleventh full-length album by the German heavy metal band Rage, released in 1996. It's the band's first collaboration with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, which played with the band Rage's songs re-arranged for a classic ...

album by Rage in 1996 * The

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the di ...

and

Sirius B Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CMa ...

albums by Therion in 2004 * The Gettysburg (1863) trilogy on

The Glorious Burden ''The Glorious Burden'' is the seventh studio album by the American power metal band Iced Earth. It is a concept album, which explores various moments in military history, such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revol ...

album by

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

in 2004 * Several songs and The Keepers Trilogy on the Unarmed album by

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Wei ...

in 2010

References

External links

Prague Symphony Orchestra, official site (English)
Czech orchestras Musical groups established in 1934 1934 establishments in Czechoslovakia {{orchestra-stub