Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moravia

Maestro Pavel Šnajdr conductor
Gregorio Nieto cello soloist

PROGRAM:
Antonín Dvořák, My Home, Op. 62
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major Op. 33 with cello soloist, Gregorio Nieto
Bedřich Smetana, Triumphal Symphony in E Major, Op. 6.

The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moravia is one of the leading and oldest symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic. Based in the historic capital of Moravia, it will open its 79th concert season in the fall of 2024. 

The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra was founded immediately after the end of World War II, on May 26, 1945. During its development important personalities of the Czech and international music scene participated in its artistic formation including conductors Otto Klemperer and Václav Neumann, violinists Josef Suk and Gidon Kremer, and cellist Pierre Fournier. Over the course of its existence, the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra has developed an extremely extensive and varied repertoire which focuses on the great composers of world music of the 19th and 20th centuries, but also promotes contemporary Czech and world music—as evidenced by the performance of more than 250 new compositions. The orchestra also ranks among the authentic interpreters of the classics of Czech national music culture: Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Leoše Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů. 

Pavel Šnajdr studied composition and conducting at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. He was a member of the composers’ society Bezmocná hrstka (Helpless Handful) and his works have earned him two awards in the Generation competition. Keenly interested in performing contemporary music, he and the Brno-based ensemble Ars incognita have premiered approximately 40 pieces by present-day composers, some of which have been recorded on CD.

He has collaborated with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, North Bohemia Philharmonic Orchestra Teplice, and the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, and on two occasions conducted concerts at the Music Forum festival in Hradec Králové.

From 2001 to 2008, Šnajdr was engaged at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň, where besides the operatic repertoire he also performed music for productions of both classical and modern ballet works. Between 2004 and 2007 he worked at the National Theatre in Brno, with which he toured Japan with a production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera, Mozart and Salieri. In the 2007-08 season, he was invited to work as a guest at the Stage Opera Prague and he prepared the music and conducted the world premiere of Malásek and Vaculík’s ballet, The Phantom of the Opera. 

In the 2008-09 season he received a permanent engagement at the State Opera Prague as conductor of ballet performances. In the 2011-12 season he served as chief conductor of the Opera of the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc. In 2011, Šnajdr established the BCO—Brno Contemporary Orchestra, which mainly focuses on performing contemporary music. With the BCO he has performed more than a hundred concerts as part of individual concert series, but also as part of international festivals such as Prague Spring, Janáček Brno, Exposition of New Music, Easter Festival of Spiritual Hubda, Moravian Autumn, Malta Arts Festival, and Festival of Polish Music in Krakow. 

Gregorio Nieto is a highly passionate cellist from Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He began his musical education at the age of five at the Jacinto Lara conservatory. Nieto has traveled to many countries throughout Latin America, Europe, and the United States as a member of various orchestras, including the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, and the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra. He won the position of first solo cellist in the latter through a competition when he was 22 years old. In 2008, he performed as a soloist in Italy and Greece, playing Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme."