“The Czech Chamber Orchestra was founded by decision of Czech musicians who wanted to create an ensemble of extraordinary level and character. It is an honour for every instrumentalist to become a member of this ensemble”.

The Czech Chamber Orchestra follows the legacy of Václav Talich & Josef Vlach and their interpretative ideals. The ensemble of the same name was first founded in 1946 by Václav Talich. Precise study, nonconformist repertoire and high artistic level were the principles from its first days. Due to the ban of Talich’s activities by the communist regime the Orchestra self-dissolved voluntarily. Only in 1957 the activities of the Orchestra resumed under the leadership of Josef Vlach, Talich’s pupil and colleague, and primate of the former Vlach Quartet. Nowadays thanks to Vlach’s pupils and a new generation of performers the tradition of the Czech Chamber Orchestra is flourishing in its third era of existence. The current Artistic Director is Vlach’s daughter Jana Vlachová and the conductors are Ondřej Kukal and Andreas S. Weiser.

The Czech Chamber Orchestra mainly concentrates on its concert activities. In the period from 2002 to 2009 the Orchestra had its own subscription series organized by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Within this series the Orchestra performed with top Czech and foreign soloists (Ivan Moravec, Jana Boušková, Ludmila Peterková, Zdeněk Tylšar, Zuzana Růžičková, Václav Hudeček, Jaroslav Tůma, Monika Knoblochová, Ivan Klánský, Ivo Kahánek, Bohuslav Matoušek, Jiří Vodička, Mikael Ericsson, Julia Henning, Yuki Saito, Vesselin Stanev, Martin Grubinger).

The Czech Chamber Orchestra also performed at several important Czech music festivals – Prague Spring in 2004, Janacek May Ostrava in 2005, International Music Festival Český Krumluv in 2005 and 2009, Talich’s Beroun in 2008, Kouřim Music Festival 2004 and 2009, and as a guest of the subscription series of the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2010.

Apart from the domestic activities, the Czech Chamber Orchestra is being invited to several international events, mostly within Europe – France, St. Etienne in 2004; Germany, Rheda, Hanau in 2004, Munich in 2007; Belgium in 2004; Croatia, Zagreb in 2006; Poland, Zielona Góra in 2007, Jelenia Góra in 2010; Switzerland, Liestal in 2009; Spain, Zaragoza in 2006, International Music Festival Torroella de Montgrí, International Music Festival Llívia, International Music Festival Cambrils, International Music Festival El Vendrell in 2007, and Valencia in 2008.

The Czech Chamber Orchestra also produced several recordings of classical chamber orchestra repertoire – for example Dvořák, Suk or Janáček, and accompaniments for soloists – for example Rejcha: Cello concertos; Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto and sonatas for viola.

The repertoire of the Czech Chamber Orchestra includes more than one hundred compositions and is being expanded every year. The base is a perfect musical direction and interpretation of classical string serenades – Dvořák, Suk, Čajkovskij, Janáček. The Orchestra is also involved in musical direction of modern compositions – for example Kernis, Dean or Wuorinen in 2010. In case of compositions that require wind instruments the Orchestra cooperates with top musicians from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK or the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

„The result is an absolutely unique sound characterized by incredible intensity, colour and interplay.“