Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava became one of the leading Czech symphony orchestras shortly after its foundation in 1954. Since its first tour in 1956, the orchestra toured almost all Europe, USA, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and thanks to the financial support of the town of Ostrava and the ArcelorMittal company, it became in 2006 the second Czech orchestra after Czech Philharmonic to perform in Australia. Also with the support of the town of Ostrava, the orchestra accomplished a successful tour comprising 19 concerts in 19 towns in the U. S. in 2009. Janáček Philharmonic regularly performs at prominent Czech music festivals (The Prague Spring, Janáček’s May, Smetana’s Litomyšl et al.) The artistic profile of the orchestra, characterized by a rich and full-bodied sound, musicality and technical prowess, was formed by conductors Václav Neumann, Václav Smetáček, Jiří Bělohlávek, Libor Pešek, Zdeněk Mácal, Sir Charles Mackerras, Serge Baudo, Helmuth Rilling, Christian Arming, Petr Vronský, David Porcelijn, Mariss Jansons, Theodore Kuchar and most recently also by Antoni Wit, Mikhail Jurowski, Jakub Hrůša and Juraj Valčuha. The orchestra also collaborated with renowned soloists, among others with J. Carreras, P. Domingo, D. Ross, M. Caballé, J. Calleja, T. Lisnic, P. Burchuladze, D. Pecková, E. Urbanová, N. Kennedy, J. Suk, A. Navarra, L. Vondráček, J. Boušková, P. Šporcl, J. Buswell, S. Babayan and D. Ishizaka. In the repertoire of the Janáček Philharmonic the works by significant Czech composers occur: L. Janáček, A. Dvořák, B. Smetana, B. Martinů, as well as by the world authors – L. van Beethoven, G. Bizet, H. Berlioz, G. Mahler, F. Schubert, R. Strauss, B. Bartók, R. Schumann, M. Ravel, M. Bruch, A. Bruckner, A. Copland, W. Walton, L. Bernstein and others. Recently, the orchestra also accompanied Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann, it appeared at the Warsaw Autumn festival, Arts Centre Seoul, Konzerthaus Wien, Tonhalle Zürich or in Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Since 1990s, the Janáček Philharmonic regularly perfoms contemporary music as well, due to the activites of composer and conductor Petr Kotík. The orchestra gained reputation as a medium for contemporary music at new music festivals in Ostrava, Prague, Warsaw and Berlin. The wide range of the orchestra’s repertoire is reflected in its abundant discography. It has recorded for numerous labels, e. g. Naxos, Brilliant Classics, Joan Records, Cybelle Records, CPO Records, Phaedra, Centaur, New World Records, Stradivari Classics and Supraphon. In 2014, the orchestra started a four-year project of live recordings of the complete works by Leoš Janáček. Heiko Mathias Förster is currently the chief conductor of Janáček Philharmonic; his collaboration with the orchestra dates back to 2004. At his inauguration, he stated, “Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava has enormous musical potential, and I believe that together, we can reach the heights.”
