The Czech Philharmonic is the foremost Czech orchestra and has long held a place among the most esteemed representatives of Czech culture on the international scene. The beginning of its rich history is linked to the name of Antonín Dvořák, who on 4 January 1896 conducted the ensemble’s inaugural concert. Although the orchestra performs a broad range of the basic international repertoire, it is sought out most often for its superb interpretations of works by the Czech classics, in a tradition built by excellent conductors like Václav Talich, Rafael Kubelík, Karel Ančerl, and Václav Neumann. The ensemble has won many international honours for its recordings, the first of which it made already in 1929: Smetana’s My Country with Talich. In 2008 the prestigious magazine Gramophone ranked it among the twenty best orchestras of the world. Since the inception of the Dvořák Prague Festival the Czech Philharmonic has been its resident orchestra.

David Garrett is one of the most versatile violinists of the young generation. Not restricting his repertoire to the realm of classical music, he also performs film music and arrangements of rock songs, and composes himself. He began playing the violin when only four years old. Three years later he enrolled in the conservatoire in Lübeck, and he then continued at the Royal Academy of Music in London. From the age of nineteen he furthered his studies at New York’s Juilliard School with the legendary Itzhak Perlman. It was also there that, in 2003, he won a composition competition with a fugue composed in the style of J. S. Bach. When only thirteen he signed a contract with the prestigious recording label Deutsche Grammophon, thus becoming the youngest soloist in that company’s history. He plays in dozens of concerts every year with renowned orchestras and conductors of the world as well as with his own musical group offering a popular repertoire. He has made many recordings in varying styles, ranging from Mozart sonatas to film melodies. In 2013 he played the title role in the biographical film The Devil's Violinist about Niccolo Paganini.