Prague Symphony Orchestra

Prague Symphony Orchestra at a concert tour in Japan, January 2008.

The Prague Symphony Orchestra (Prague, Czech Republic, Czech: Symfonický orchestr hlavního města Prahy FOK) was founded in 1934 by Rudolf Pekárek. In the 1930s the orchestra performed the scores for many Czech films, and also appeared regularly on Czech radio. An early promoter of the orchestra was Dr. Václav Smetáček, who, in 1942 became the orchestra's chief conductor, a post he held for the next 30 years.

The orchestra has traditionally been known by the acronym FOK, standing for Film-Opera-Koncert, reflecting the orchestra's fields of activity as envisioned by its founder. When the city of Prague made the orchestra its official concert ensemble in 1952, it retained the acronym, giving it the official title Symphony Orchestra of the Capital City of Prague - FOK.

The orchestra has travelled extensively in Europe, Japan, and the United States, and has recorded for many different labels. Since 2006, the orchestra's chief conductor is Jiří Kout.

Principal conductors

• Václav Smetáček (1942–1972)
• Ladislav Slovák (1972–1976)
• Jindřich Rohan (1976–1977)
• Jiří Bělohlávek (1977–1989)
• Petr Altrichter (1990–1992)
• Martin Turnovský (1992–1995)
• Gaetano Delogu (1995–1998)
• Serge Baudo (2001–2006)
• Jiří Kout (2006–present)

Contribution in rock crossover projects

Since 1995 the orchestra has been part of several crossover projects, which aim to mix metal and classical music together. The most important are:

• The Lingua Mortis album by Rage in 1996
• The Lemuria and Sirius B albums by Therion in 2004
• The Gettysburg (1863) trilogy on The Glorious Burden album by Iced Earth in 2004
• Several songs and The Keepers Trilogy on the Unarmed album by Helloween in 2010

External links

• Prague Symphony Orchestra, official site (English)