ČNSO & Prague Proms, o. p. s.

The Czech National Symphony Orchestra is one of the most prominent and respected symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic. The orchestra was founded in 1993 by the trumpeter Jan Hasenöhrl and the conductor Zdeněk Košler. It has since become a mainstay of Czech music culture. Its glowing reputation can be attributed to the members’ versatility, performing a wide range of genres, spanning classical works, film music and jazz, as well as musicals, which attract large domestic and international audiences.

The CNSO is also known for cooperating with eminent conductors. One of them was the great Czech conductor Libor Pešek, who served as the orchestra’s artistic director for more than twelve years and elevated the ensemble to international repute. The present chief conductor of the CNSO is the American conductor and composer Steven Mercurio, who has worked with leading symphony orchestras from around the world.

Another notable conductors, composers and film directors who have been collaborating with the orchestra or who worked with them at concerts and in the CNSO Studio in Prague include Lalo Schifrin, Pino Donaggio, Giuliano Taviani, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Quentin Tarantino, Vince Mendoza, Giuseppe Tornatore, Carl Davis, Marcello Rota, Vladimir Cosma, Christian Lindberg and Chick Corea. We should also mention the valuable and long-standing collaboration the orchestra enjoyed with the legendary Ennio Morricone, involving studio recordings and a series of concerts performed on numerous European tours. The CNSO regularly collaborates with prominent soloists from all parts of the globe.

The notional pinnacle for the CNSO was the Grammy Award it won in April 2022 in the category “Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals”. The award was given for the composition To The Edge of Longing from Vince Mendoza’s record Freedom Over Everything. This album was recorded together with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in the CNSO’s Studio No. 1. Moreover, the orchestra’s director Jan Hasenöhrl was also the initiator of the project and the record’s producer.

Since 2005, the CNSO has organized the Prague Proms International Music Festival, and it is also its resident ensemble. In addition to its subscription series the orchestra also travels abroad on international tours. Alongside almost all countries in Europe, the CNSO has performed in places as far flung as the United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea, China, Dubai, Oman, Canada and Mexico.