Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra
Raising from a Radio Orchestra founded in the mid-wars period when Paul Hindemith, Leoš Janáček, Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky frequently visited Ostrava, a big symphony orchestra was launched in 1954. Thanks to demanding artistic direction it soon became one of the leading Czech orchestras and started to tour abroad only two years later (1956). Many world-known conductors and soloist made their artistic attribution to the orchestra since then: Maris Jansons, Serge Baudo, Václav Neumann, Karel Ančerl, Jiří Bělohlávek, Helmuth Rilling, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Iván Fischer; Rudolf Firkušný, Svjatoslav Richter, Frank-Peter Zimmermann, André Navarra and many others.

The Velvet Revolution and the two upcoming decades (90s and 00s) sees the orchestra touring a lot to the West, including tours with the opera stars such as Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Diana Ross or Joseph Calleja in the same time when Christian Arming becomes the youngest Artistic director in the Orchestra`s history.

Stanislav Vavřínek
born 26 February 1972, in Uherské Hradiště, is a Czech conductor and teacher at the department of conducting at the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague.

Vavřínek first studied flute and conducting at the Brno Conservatory, then he continued his studies at the department of conducting at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague (with Eliška, Vajnar, Štych) and afterward he attended courses by Roberto Benzi in Switzerland. He started his profession in 1994 as the Chief Conductor of the Prague Student Orchestra. Since the beginning of his career he has worked with orchestras including for example the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic and with exceptional soloists like Ivan Moravec, Igor Ardašev, Eugen Indjic, Gabriela Beňačková, Eva Urbanová, Dagmar Pecková, Ivan Kusnjer, Radek Baborák, Václav Hudeček, Bohuslav Matoušek, Sophia Jaffé, Jiří Bárta, Milan Svoboda etc. He also appeared as a guest conductor in many European countries and Japan and was a guest at many international music festivals (Prague Autumn, Prague Spring etc.). Between 1999 and 2008 he was the Chief Conductor of the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia. Since 2008, he has been the Chief Conductor of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra and since 2006, a professor at the department of conducting at the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague.