The most respected Czech cellist of the present time, Jiří Bárta studied his instrument with Josef Chuchro and Mirko Škampa in Prague, and with Boris Pergamenschikow in Cologne. He was won prestigious honours in many international competitions including the Rostropovich-Hammer Award in Los Angeles. He works with leading orchestras both in the Czech Republic and abroad like the Czech Philharmonic, London's Royal Philharmonic, and the Berlin Symphony, and with conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and Maxim Shostakovich. He appears regularly in major festivals and on concert stages in Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Paris, Salzburg, Tokyo, London, and elsewhere. Highly prized are his recordings for the Supraphon label, especially of Bach's cello suites, both concertos by Shostakovich, and both concertos by Dvořák. He also plays frequently with jazz musicians.

The Orchestra is one of the most esteemed musical ensembles of Europe. Founded in 1904, it was led during its early phase by conductors who stood at the pinnacle of their art: Hans Richter, Sir Edward Elgar, and Sir Thomas Beecham. During the course of the twentieth century, too, many topflight artists served as chief conductor, of which we might mention at least André Previn, Claudio Abbado, and Sir Colin Davis. The London Symphony performs regularly both in its home base, Barbican Hall in London, and on the most prestigious concert stages all over Europe and the United States. The ensemble is often called 'the most recorded orchestra in the world': starting already in 1912, it has shared in thousands of recordings, not only in the area of concert music. A specialty of the orchestra is recording film music, including for example the music for Star Wars.

The renowned Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda studied conducting, piano, and composition. In 1997 at the invitation of Valery Gergiev he became the first foreigner in the role of principal guest conductor for the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. From 2002 to 2008 he was the chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, with which orchestra he made several recordings for the Chandos label and appeared in two years (2004 and 2006) in the Prague Autumn International Music Festival. He has led many of the foremost orchestras of the world as guest conductor, for example the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, and the London Symphony. He also conducts operas, holding since 2007 the post of chief conductor of the orchestra of the Teatro Regio di Torino in Italy and appearing regularly as a guest with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, London's Covent Garden, and other prestigious companies.