Carnegie Hall

Gramophone’s 2024 Orchestra of the Year, the 129-year-old Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert—an all-Dvořák program conducted by the composer himself—in Prague’s Rudolfinum on January 4, 1896. Acknowledged for its definitive performances of Czech composers, the orchestra is also recognized for its deep relationships to Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Gustav Mahler, who conducted the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 with the orchestra in 1908. It is currently recording the complete cycle of Mahler’s symphonies for Pentatone with Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov.

The Czech Philharmonic’s extraordinary and proud history reflects both its location at the very heart of Europe and the Czech Republic’s turbulent political history, for which Smetana’s Má vlast has become a potent symbol. For the Year of Czech Music in 2024, the orchestra celebrated the bicentenary of Smetana’s birth with a new recording of Má vlast conducted by Mr. Bychkov and rare concert performances of Libuše with Principal Guest Conductor Jakub Hrůša. At Carnegie Hall, they are joined by the orchestra’s artist-in-residence, Daniil Trifonov, along with Yo-Yo Ma and Gil Shaham.

Two features have remained at the Czech Philharmonic’s core throughout its history: the championing of Czech composers, and a belief in music’s power to change lives. From as early as the 1920s, Václav Talich, the orchestra’s chief conductor from 1919 to 1941, pioneered concerts for workers, young people, and volunteer organizations—a philosophy that is equally as vibrant today.

Along with its youth orchestra, orchestral academy, and Jiří Bělohlávek Prize for young musicians, the Czech Philharmonic’s comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools. An inspirational music and song program led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romany communities within the Czech Republic and Slovakia has helped many socially excluded families find a voice. As part of the Year of Czech Music, four members of the orchestral academy perform with young musicians from Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Academy of Music, with which the Czech Philharmonic holds an annual education exchange program.

Semyon Bychkov’s tenure as chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic began in 2018 with a series of concerts in Prague, London, New York, and Washington, DC, that marked the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovak independence. The following year saw the culmination of The Tchaikovsky Project, an exploration of the composer’s works that featured concerts, residencies, and recordings of his symphonies for Decca Classics.

In recognition of the Year of Czech Music in 2024, Mr. Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic give pride of place to Czech composers both at home and on tour in Europe and the US. In addition, Pentatone has released recordings of Smetana’s Má vlast and Dvořák’s symphonies nos. 7, 8, and 9, coupled with the trio of overtures Nature, Life, and Love. Mr. Bychkov and the orchestra are currently midway through a complete cycle of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies.

Mr. Bychkov brings a unique combination of innate musicality and rigorous Russian pedagogy to repertoire that spans four centuries. He holds honorary titles with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Academy of Music, and has recorded with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Royal Concertgebouw, Philharmonia, and London Philharmonic orchestras; Berliner Philharmoniker; Orchestre de Paris; and WDR Symphony Orchestra. He was named Conductor of the Year at the International Opera Awards in 2015 and by Musical America in 2022.

Like the Czech Philharmonic, Mr. Bychkov has one foot firmly in the culture of the East and the other in the West. Born in St. Petersburg in 1952, he immigrated to the United States in 1975 and has lived in Europe since the mid-1980s. He returned to the former Soviet Union in 1989 as principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra; that same year, he was named music director of the Orchestre de Paris. In 1997, he was appointed chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, and in 1998, he became chief conductor of the Semperoper Dresden.

Yo-Yo Ma’s multifaceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Mr. Ma strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity.

Most recently, Mr. Ma began Our Common Nature, a cultural journey to celebrate the ways that nature can reunite us in pursuit of a shared future. Our Common Nature follows the Bach Project, a 36-community, six-continent tour of J. S. Bach’s cello suites paired with local cultural programming. Both endeavors reflect Mr. Ma’s lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps us imagine and build a stronger society.

Mr. Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, where he began studying the cello with his father at age four. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies before pursuing a liberal arts education. He has recorded more than 120 albums, is the winner of 19 Grammy Awards, and has performed for nine US presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden’s inauguration. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Birgit Nilsson Prize. He has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006, and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” of 2020.