Prague Chamber Soloists

The Prague Chamber Soloists are the longest-running string orchestra of its kind in the Czech Republic. The violist of the Prague Symphony Orchestra stood at the birth of the ensemble in 1961, Prague FOK Hubert Šimáček and legendary conductor Václav Neumann. As the name of the orchestra chosen by them suggests, the ensemble was made up of musicians who had solo ambitions, but at the same time collaborated with leading Czech and foreign soloists and conductors of the time. Among the most important were violinists Josef Suk, Gidon Kremer, Václav Hudeček, flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková, conductor Libor Pešek. Over time, the cellist Václav Jírovec took over the artistic direction of the ensemble, and after 2001 the ensemble was led by violinists Petr Hůla and Bohuslav Matoušek. During its existence, PKS has given concerts in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe, Japan and Canada, and has also performed at major music festivals. They collaborated on music programs for Czech Television and made a number of award-winning recordings.