Czech National Symphony Orchestra / Чешский Национальный Симфонический оркестр

The Czech National Symphony Orchestra was established in 1993 by trumpeter Jan Hasenöhrl. The orchestra is made up of approximately eighty skilled, experienced musicians who have found in the orchestra a unique place to be able to express themselves. A spiritual father at the birth of the CNSO was the legendary conductor Zdeněk Košler. He was always there for the orchestra with his wide-ranging artistic knowledge and he recorded several CDs with them. In the year 1996, the American Paul Freeman took over as Chief Conductor, and he is also the orchestra’s artistic director. The ambitious project of this orchestra is one of Freeman’s greatest successes on the Czech and world music scenes. The CNSO’s recordings are on sale in the United States and Japan, and successful tours have taken place over the British Isles (1997, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005), France (2000, 2004), Japan (2001, 2004) and Mexico (2003). The orchestra takes great pride in its own recording studio, located in Prague-Hostivař, and the several Gold CDs (for more than 30 000 copies sold) that it has produced. Other accolades include the Gustav Mahler Prize, awarded for the interpretation of Mahler’s works, and the prestigious agreement the orchestra signed with IMG Artists London for worldwide representation. The next success is long-time recording project in association with Tokio media company Victor Entertainment. On the base of this cooperation was recorded until today 8 CDs and video DVD. CNSO was accompanying Andrea Bocelli on the tour of eighteen European metropolises.