The Czech Philharmonic is the foremost Czech orchestra and has long held a place among the most esteemed representatives of Czech culture on the international scene. The beginning of its rich history is linked to the name of Antonín Dvořák, who on 4 January 1896 conducted the ensemble’s inaugural concert. Although the orchestra performs a broad range of the core international repertoire, it is sought out most often for its superb interpretations of the classics by the great Czech composers in a tradition built up by great conductors (Talich, Kubelík, Ančerl, Neumann, and Bělohlávek). In 2008 the prestigious magazine Gramophone ranked it among the twenty best orchestras of the world. One of the orchestra’s most important recent projects has recording Tchaikovsky’s complete orchestral works for the Decca Label with Semyon Bychkov conducting. Since the inception of the Dvořák Prague Festival, the Czech Philharmonic has been its resident orchestra, and since 2018 it has been a holder of the Antonín Dvořák Prize for promoting and popularising Czech classical music abroad and in the Czech Republic.

Lukáš Vondráček, who turns 34 this year, is known internationally as one of today’s most distinctive Czech performers. He is followed by his reputation as a prodigy: he began playing piano at age two, and a year later he gave his first public performance. At age eleven he issued his first CD, and two years after that he gave his first concert tour of the USA. At thirteen he began his university studies, and at fifteen he made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy. A highpoint of his artistic career so far was his triumph at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2016, where he became the first Czech winner in history. He has appeared in solo recitals at a number of famed concert halls including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Elbephilharmonie in Hamburg, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. His appearances in the Czech Republic include this past January at the Municipal House in Prague with the Piano Concerto in F Minor by Frédéric Chopin. He is a long-time resident of Boston.

One of the most prolific Czech operatic sopranos, Kateřina Kněžíková, has recently transformed into an internationally acclaimed performer of concert repertoire. She is a permanent cast member of the National Theatre in Prague and a laureate of the Classic Prague Awards 2018 for the best chamber performance and Thalia Award 2019 for extraordinary stage performance in the opera Julietta (B. Martinů) on the boards of the National Moravian-Silesian Theater. In 2021, she released her first solo album Phidylé for Supraphon label, which was named as Editor's Choice and The Best Classical Albums of 2021 in Gramophone Magazine. In 2022, Phidylé won the prestigious BBC Magazine Music Awards in the Vocal category. She also has recorded for Decca, Harmonia Mundi and Opus Arte.

Her core symphonic repertoire includes Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Dvořák’s Requiem, Stabat Mater and Te Deum, Martinů’s Epic of Gilgamesh, Mahler’s symphonies (Nos. 2, 4, 8), Brahms’ German Requiem, and works by Beethoven and Mozart. As a dedicated performer of orchestral songs, she is stunning in Mahler’s Youth’s Magic Horn, Strauss’ Four Lasts Songs, Ravel’s Shéherezade, Martinů’s Magic Nights and songs by Duparc, to name the most prominent of roles. Her recitals featuring songs by Janáček, Dvořák, Martinů, Ravel, Debussy, Fauré, Strauss, Brahms, Liszt, Schubert, and Schumann have been praised by audiences and critics alike.

In 2021, Kateřina successfully performed the major role in L. Janáček's opera Káťa Kabanová at the prestigious Glyndebourne Opera Festival. The orchestras Kateřina has worked with as a soloist include the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Camerata Salzburg, and Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria. She appears frequently with the Czech Philharmonic and other major orchestras in the Czech Republic. Kateřina has performed with renown conductors, including Jiří Bělohlávek, Manfred Honeck, John Nelson, Serge Baudo, Jakub Hrůša, Domingo Hindoyan, Robin Ticciati, Oksana Lyniv, James Gaffigan, and Tomáš Netopil.

As one of the most sought-after operatic sopranos in the Czech Republic, Kateřina appears regularly with all major opera houses locally and many houses abroad, including La Monnaie Brussels, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Opéra de Dijon, Slovak National Theatre and others. Kateřina excels at Mozart (Susanna, Contessa, Donna Elvira, Pamina to name her most important roles), and is incomparable as Rusalka (Dvořák), Mařenka (Bartered Bride by Smetana), Káťa Kabanová (Janáček) and other operas Martinů, Dvořák, Smetana, Gounod, and Bizet.