Vahan Mardirossian, an Armenian-born conductor and pianist based in France, has been appointed as the new Chief Conductor of the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. He will assume his new role starting from the 2025/2026 season.

Born in 1975 in Yerevan, Armenia, he began his musical education at the Armenian Komitas Conservatory before continuing his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where he graduated with honours in 1996. Initially pursuing a career as a pianist, he later shifted his focus to conducting, giving his renditions a unique and multi-faceted artistic perspective by drawing from both disciplines.

For many years, he served as Principal Conductor of the Caen Symphony Orchestra in France and as Music Director of the Armenian National Chamber Orchestra. Since 2020, he has been Music Director of the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, where he regularly conducts the orchestral rounds of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. He also collaborates with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and has conducted numerous leading orchestras worldwide.

His discography includes an acclaimed recording of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Stéphanie-Marie Degand and the Caen Symphony Orchestra, as well as a recording of Florentine Mulsant’s Music for Strings with the Armenian National Chamber Orchestra.

Alongside his conducting career, Mardirossian is also an esteemed educator. He teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where he shares his extensive experience with young talents. Additionally, he is a frequent jury member at international music competitions, and leads masterclasses worldwide.

He first introduced himself to Pardubice audiences in 2023, when he conducted the opening concert of the Pardubice Spring Music Festival. He also shares a strong connection with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice through an extensive discography for the prestigious Dutch label Brilliant Classics.

source: Komorní filharmonie Pardubice

The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) is one of the most distinguished Czech orchestras of today. Since the 2022/2023 season, the ensemble has been led by Petr Popelka as its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, with Robert Jindra serving as Principal Guest Conductor for a second consecutive year.

During the 2024/2025 concert season, SOČR will welcome numerous renowned artists, including acclaimed violinist Isabelle Faust and violinist-conductor Renaud Capuçon. Other notable guests include Dutch pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, conductor Han-na Chang, and conductor and organist Wayne Marshall. A highlight of the season is the concert performance of the third act of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, completing a trilogy that began in previous seasons with the first and second acts. Leading roles will be performed by Michael Weinius and Elisabeth Teige. In addition to these international stars, SOČR will also collaborate with prominent Czech soloists such as soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, baritone Adam Plachetka, and violinist Josef Špaček.

In recent years, SOČR has collaborated with leading Czech and international conductors, such as Tomáš Netopil, Petr Altrichter, Jakub Hrůša, Cornelius Meister, Alexander Liebreich, Stephan Asbury, Ion Marin, Michał Nesterowicz, Anu Tali, Wayne Marshall, Omer Meir Wellber, Ilan Volkov, and Eva Ollikainen.

Renowned soloists who have performed with the orchestra include pianist Krystian Zimerman; violinists Pierre Amoyal, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gidon Kremer, and María Dueñas; cellists Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Müller-Schott, István Várdai, and Steven Isserlis; trombonist Christian Lindberg; and jazz musician Avishai Cohen. Vocal soloists have included stars such as Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, José Cura, Juan Diego Flórez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Jonas Kaufmann. The orchestra frequently works with Czech artists such as Lukáš Vondráček, Ivo Kahánek, Jan Bartoš, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Tomáš Jamník, Adam Plachetka, Simona Šaturová, Kateřina Kněžíková, Petr Nekoranec, and Vilém Veverka.

SOČR is dedicated to supporting contemporary Czech composers, commissioning and regularly performing works by Miroslav Srnka, Ondřej Adámek, Pavel Zemek Novák, Jan Ryant Dřízal, Šimon Voseček, and Jana Vöröšová.

The orchestra boasts an extensive recording portfolio. Notable recent recordings include a Hyperion Records release featuring harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and conductor Alexander Liebreich with works by Viktor Kalabis, Hans Krása, and Bohuslav Martinů, which was selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine. Noteworthy is the album Mysterium of Time, featuring music by Miloslav Kabeláč and complementing SOČR’s acclaimed complete recording of his symphonies (Supraphon, 2016).

In 2023, the orchestra recorded an album with violinist Josef Špaček and pianist Miroslav Sekera, presenting chamber and orchestral works by Bohuslav Martinů. That same year, it recorded Jan Novák’s Concertos, conducted by Tomáš Netopil and featuring Novák’s daughters, Dora and Clara Nováková. Both recordings were released by Supraphon.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s birth, SOČR recorded his opera The Two Widows. The recording, conducted by Robert Jindra and featuring soloists Kateřina Kněžíková, Pavol Breslik, Adam Plachetka, Jana Sibera, Petr Nekoranec, and the National Theatre Chorus, was broadcast on Czech Radio Vltava and will be released on CD.

SOČR presents concerts as part of subscription series at major Prague venues, including the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, Bethlehem Chapel, as well as individual concerts at DOX+ and Czech Radio’s Studio 1.

The orchestra is a regular guest at prestigious festivals such as the Prague Spring International Music Festival, Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, Smetana’s Litomyšl, Leoš Janáček International Music Festival, and the Český Krumlov International Music Festival.

Internationally, SOČR frequently performs at major European venues and regularly tours in Japan, continuing to strengthen its reputation on the global stage.

source: Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu

Ryan Martin Bradshaw began playing the piano at the age of seven and he began performing with the Russian Philharmonic under Vladimir Spivakov from the age of eight. He is the youngest soloist in residence at Slovak Radio. He is a laureate from a large number of piano competitions: he has received the 1st prize at the Golden Nutcracker Competition in Moscow, the EMCY Prize, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory Prize, the 1st prize at the Krainev Competition in Moscow, the 1st prize at the Chopin Piano Competition in Poland, the 2nd prize at the International Piano Competition in Aarhus, the Carl Nielsen Prize and the audience prize at Enschede, the 2nd prize for the youngest participants at the International Piano Competition for Young Musicians in the Netherlands, the 2nd prize at the Mihaela Ursuleasa Competition in Bucharest, the 3rd prize and the prize for the youngest ever finalist at the Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Weimar, the Grand Prix and the 1st prize at the International Vienna Open, the 1st prize at the Peter Toperczer International Piano Competition in Košice, the 1st prize at the Young Virtuosi competition in Zagreb, the 1st prize at the Young Virtuosi competition in Sofia, the 1st prize at the Grand Prize Virtuoso competition in Salzburg, the 1st prize at the Amadeus Mozartian competition in Brno and the 1st prize at the Bratislava Young Virtuosi competition.

Mark Anthony Lewin began playing the violin at the age of five. He studied under Tamara Prischepenko until the age of ten and has been working under the tutelage of Professor Bernhard Hartog at the Julius Stern Institute in Berlin since 2015. He has also participated at a number of master classes by Professor Dora Schwarzberg. He has regularly performed at music festivals such as Youth Classics 2015 (Switzerland), the 2015 Kastela Summer School (Croatia), the International Summer Academy in 2016 and 2019 (Austria) and the 2019 Chieti Classica (Italy). In 2018, he joined the International Academy for Talented Young Musicians in Germany. He regularly participates at international courses where he has worked with renowned musicians such as Michael Erxleben, Frithjof-Martin Grabner, Felix Korinth, the Ensemble Modern or Roeland Gehlen. In 2020, he became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany (BJO). He has performed at many concerts and festivals as a soloist and in a duo with his brother Michael Lewin. These include the 27^th Brandenburg summer concerts, amongst others. He has been studying at the Carl Philippe Emanuel Bach Music School since 2017.

Ildikó Rozsonits was born in Budapest in 2006. At the age of four, she started playing the recorder and then began the piano one year later. She was accepted into the Liszt Academy for exceptional young talents in Budapest as a ten-year-old and became the youngest student at the school under the tutelage of Professor Gábor Eckhardt. She is a laureate from a number of prestigious international piano competitions: she received the 1st prize at the Carl Filtsch competition in Romania and she won the Ars Nova competition in Italy with the highest possible number of points in 2017. One year later, she came first in competitions in Essen and Ústí nad Labem. In 2019, she won the Béla Bartók competition in Graz, Austria. Last year, she received the 1st prize at the César Franck International Piano Competition in Brussels, at the Piano Talents competition in Milan and at the International Music Festival and Competition in Paris. In 2020, she also became the Hungarian winner of the Virtuosos V4+ television show. She was the absolute winner of the Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Spain in 2021.

Jan Schulmeister has been playing the piano since the age of five. In addition to studying in Eva Zonová’s class at the Arts Primary School in Kroměříž, he has also completed a number of master classes with leading teachers and artists both at home and abroad. He has received the most prestigious prizes from many piano competitions, including being the two-time winner of the National Arts Primary School competition, the two-time absolute winner of the Piano Talents competition in Milan and the recipient of the absolute winner’s title in the Amadeus and Beethoven’s Teplice competitions. He has also added victories at the César Franck Competition in Brussels and at the Estonian Odin International Music Competition. He became a finalist in the 2020 Concertino Praga competition and received the EMCY Prize. He performs with leading Czech orchestras under the batons of Tomáš Netopil, Dennis Russell Davies or Jiří Rožeň and he cooperates with the Wihan Quartet. He plays regular solo concerts at both Czech and international concert halls and he participates at international music festivals such as the Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague, Smetana’s Litomyšl, Svátky hudby or the South Bohemian Festival.

The Rudolfinum is one of the most important Neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic. In its conception as a multi-purpose cultural centre it was quite unique in Europe at the time of its construction. Based on a joint design by two outstanding Czech architects, Josef Zítek and Josef Schultz, a magnificent building was erected serving for concerts, as a gallery, and as a museum. The grand opening on 7 February 1885 was attended by Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in whose honour the structure was named. In 1896 the very first concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra took place in the Rudolfinum's main concert hall, under the baton of the composer Antonín Dvořák whose name was later bestowed on the hall.