The Prague Philharmonic Choir is a leading European vocal formation. As one of the most prominent Czech professional ensembles, it operates under the sole jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. In the course of the choir's extensive history since its foundation in 1935, it has been directed by a succession of distinguished Czech choir masters. Its current principal Choir Master, Lukáš Vasilek, has directed the Prague Philharmonic Choir since 2007.
The Prague Philharmonic Choir's repertoire is centred primarily around oratorio and cantata works. In their performances, the choir has appeared with pre-eminent international orchestras (in recent years including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Czech Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Wiener Symphoniker among others), and with some of the most distinguished conductors (most recently including Daniel Barenboim, Jiří Bělohlávek, Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Philippe Jordan, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta and Sir Simon Rattle). In addition to its standard choral repertoire, the Prague Philharmonic Choir is likewise active in the domain of opera, regularly working with the National Theatre in Prague, and since 2010 holding the status of choir-in-residence at the opera festival of Bregenz, Austria.
As well as these commitments, the Prague Philharmonic Choir engages in a number of its own independent projects. Since 2011 it has produced a choral concert series in Prague, with a programme focussed notably on presentations of highly sophisticated and less well-known choral works, either a cappella or with chamber-scale instrumental accompaniment. The choir considers part of its activity in educational endeavours addressing the younger generation of musicians an inviolable. Targeting students of vocal disciplines has been its Choral Academy, a project aimed at offering young up-and-coming artists practical training through work with a professional vocal ensemble, and, in a special programme intended for children, the Prague Philharmonic Choir organises a series of educational concerts, in addition to on-site singing workshops taking place in schools.
The Prague Philharmonic Choir has to its credit an extensive discography, with many titles released by major international labels. Over the last few years, these have included Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Sony Classical and Supraphon. Last season saw the release of, most notably, two important albums, one featuring Bohuslav Martinů's cantatas (Supraphon, 2016) and the other Antonín Dvořák´s Stabat Mater (Decca, 2017).
The last-mentioned recording was made with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of its Principal Conductor, the late Jiří Bělohlávek.
In the 2017-18 season the Prague Philharmonic Choir is undertaking concerts in Prague with several different orchestras including the Czech Philharmonic and the Wiener Symphoniker, also touring to Russia to appear with the St Petersburg Philharmonic and the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow under the baton of Vladimir Fedoseyev, as well as appearances in Israel with the Israel Philharmonic and conductor Gianandrea Noseda. At the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the choir will be performing with the Münchner Philharmoniker, and in summer it will return to the Bregenz festival for its production of Bizet's Carmen, in addition to the world premiere of Berthold Goldschmidt's opera Beatrice Cenci. It will also be accompanying the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Jakub Hrůša, in a new Decca recording of Antonín Dvořák's Requiem.