Prague Philharmonia

The Prague Philharmonia ("Pražská komorní filharmonie"; literal translation, "Prague Chamber Philharmonia") is an orchestra based in Prague, the Czech Republic. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues in Prague, including the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, the Church of St. Simon and Juda, the Švanda Theatre (Smíchov) and the Salon Philharmonia.

The orchestra receives government and civic sponsorship from the Czech Ministry of Culture, the City of Prague and the Prague 1 Municipal Authority. As of 2008, the orchestra's director is Radim Otépka, and their general director is Dana Wagnerová. The orchestra contains 47 musicians, as of August 2008.

History

Jiří Bělohlávek founded the orchestra in 1994 and served as its first music director and chief conductor, from 1994 to 2005. Since 2005, Bělohlávek has held the title of conductor laureate of the orchestra. The Swiss conductor Kaspar Zehnder became chief conductor in 2005, and Jakub Hrůša simultaneously became principal guest conductor. Zehnder stepped down from the chief conductorshp in June 2008 at the expiration of his contract. In March 2008, the orchestra announced the appointment of Hrůša as their next chief conductor, effective in September 2008.

The orchestra made its debut at The Proms in London in July 2004. [cite news | author=Erica Jeal | title=Prague Philharmonia (review of Prom 4, 2004) | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/proms2004/story/0,,1269367,00.html | work=The Guardian | date=24 July 2004 | accessdate=2008-08-09]

The orchestra has made recordings for a number of labels, including Supraphon [cite news | author=Andrew Clements | title=Dvorak: The Stubborn Lovers: Kloubova/ Brezina/ Sykorova/ Belacek/ Janal/ Prague Philharmonia/ Belohlavek | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1183698,00.html | work=The Guardian | date=2 April 2004 | accessdate=2008-08-09] , Chandos, and harmonia mundi [cite news | author=Andrew Clements | title=Mozart: Symphonies Nos 35 & 36, Prague Philharmonia/ Belohlavek | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1551631,00.html | work=The Guardian | date=19 August 2005 | accessdate=2008-08-09]

Chief Conductors

* Jiří Bělohlávek (1994-2005)
* Kaspar Zehnder (2005-2008)
* Jakub Hrůša (2008-present)

References

External links

* [http://www.pkf.cz/en/ English-language version of orchestra homepage]