The Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest orchestras in Europe. It was founded in 1835 by composer, violinist, and conductor Josef Labitzky as a seasonal spa ensemble. Forty years later, Labitzky's son August turned it into a permanent symphony orchestra with a versatile repertoire. A significant achievement of the orchestra was the performance of the continental premiere of Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony in Poštovní Dvůr (The Postal Court) on July 20, 1894.

It is impossible to name all of the important people who were and are connected with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. We must name at least one violinist and conductor Robert Manzer, thanks to whom the orchestra gained excellent relations with important personas of the European music world, including Pablo Casals and Richard Strauss. Many renowned conductors performed with the orchestra such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Dean Dixon, Aram Chačaturjan, Zdeněk Košler, Charles Mackerras, Libor Pešek or Petr Altrichter as well as famous soloists such as Ivo Kahánek, Ivan Klánský, Václav Hudeček, David Oistrach, Pavel Šporcl, Adam Plachetka, Josef Suk, Ivan Ženatý, Mstislav Rostropovič, Jiří Bárta, Magdalena Hajóssyová, Dagmar Pecková and many others.

Among the permanent conductors who significantly contributed to the orchestra were Václav Neumann, later chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, Vladimír Matěj, Josef Hercl, and Radomil Eliška. Their legacy was later followed by the British conductor Douglas Bostock, who was KSO´s chief conductor during 1991 – 1998 and recorded numerous CDs with the orchestra. From 2004 to 2009 the chief conductor was prof. Jiří Stárek, from 2011 to 2016, a French conductor Martin Lebel, followed by Jan Kučera, under whose leadership the orchestra attracted audiences of not only classical repertoire but also from crossover pop-music programs, film music, and family programs. Ondřej Vrabec, who is not only an award-winning conductor but also a renowned solo horn player of the Czech Philharmonic, a sought-after chamber musician and teacher at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, will take over the chief-conductor role in September 2022.

Traditionally, the orchestra participates in the city's special events such as the Opening of the Spa Season, JazzFest Karlovy Vary, or the prestigious Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition.

Since 1992, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra has been organizing Beethoven Days Music Festival, and one of the oldest music festivals in Europe Dvořák's Karlovy Vary Autumn Festival has celebrated its 63rd anniversary in 2021.

Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra has always been part of the cultural pillars of Karlovy Vary. In recent years it has significantly expanded its scope both within the Karlovy Vary region and beyond, by participating in concerts and music festivals in our country and abroad.

Ondřej Gregor Brzobohatý is not only a performing musician, but also a composer, lyricist, arranger, and actor. He fell for the enchantment of music mainly thanks to film music, a field to which he has long desired to dedicate himself. In his childhood, he was also influenced by the black musicians Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Louis Armstrong, from whom he still draws inspiration for his song writing. He has written music for films including Angel of the Lord 2, and for the Karlín Musical Theatre he has composed a musical of his own, Holmes: The Legend, with Vojtěch Dyk in the leading role. During the period when live concerts were not possible, he wrote a song for nurses in connection with a fundraising campaign, and he made appearances in a project for the elderly titled We Play at Your Windows, at the streamed concert We’re Testing Krumlov, at a fundraiser for Czech Food Banks presented by the television channel TV Seznam, and at the Concert for the Anniversary of November 17th. He also invented a whimsical tabletop game called Covid-19: We’re All in This Together, Dammit!

Jan Novák began playing violin at the age of six. At present he is studying under Prof. Jiří Fišer at the Prague Grammar and Music School, and under his guidance he passed the entrance examination to the Prague Conservatoire. In 2017 he took part at the Josef Muzika International Violin Competition, where he won second prize and the award for the best performance of the compulsory composition by Luboš Fišer. That year, he was the winner of the nationwide round of a competition held in Liberec by the Czech Ministry of Education. In 2018 at the Josef Micka Violin Competition he won first prize and an invitation to masterclasses with Václav Hudeček in Luhačovice. The invitation included a scholarship from the Dagmar and Václav Havel Vision 97 Foundation. He also won first prize at the 60th annual holding of the world-famous Kocian International Violin Competition. In the autumn of 2019 he performed at the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival at St Agnes’s Convent. Jan Novák is supported by the Karel Komárek Family Foundation (KKFF).

Sebastian Cretan was born in 2010 to a musical family with a Czech mother and a Romanian father. He began playing piano at the age of four under the tutelage of M. Skalková. At six years of age as a pupil at the Frédéric Chopin Elementary School of the Arts in Mariánské Lázně, he took part in a competition of pupils at elementary schools of the arts held by the Ministry of Education. He advanced to the national finals, where he took third prize. At the same time, he also entered the nationwide piano competition Little Hands of Karlovy Vary, where he won second prize. In 2019 he appeared as one of the soloists from the Frédéric Chopin Elementary School of the Arts with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra of Mariánské Lázně performing the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Isaak Berkovich. Soon thereafter he again entered the Little Hands of Karlovy Vary competition, this time winning third prize. Since September 2019 he has been a pupil at the Robert Schumann Elementary School of the Arts in Aš, where his teacher is Olga Fernandez. In June 2020 he entered the Prague Junior Note Competition and earned an Honourable Mention. Besides piano, he also plays trombone, and he spends his leisure time riding his bike and playing with his friends.

Kateřina Zachová was born in 2003, and since 2011 she has been studying at the Jihlava Elementary School of the Arts, piano level II, with Eva Fišerová. In 2012 she took part in the Per Quattro Mani competition for piano four-hands, where she earned a level-one honourable mention. She won third prize at the same competition in 2016. In 2016 and 2019 she appeared at the Jihlava Young Pianist Exhibition, including the winners’ concert. In 2017 she won a level-one honourable mention in the solo piano category in the main round of a competition of pupils of Elementary Schools of the Arts of the Czech Republic, and two years later at the same competition she won first prize in the chamber music category and took part in the winners’ concert. In 2017 she took part at the Gustav Mahler Festival in Jihlava, and two years later she was nominated for a Vysočina Talent Award.

Vojtěch Čermák was born in 2004 and has pursued his studies of violin and flute at the Jihlava Elementary School of the Arts (under Dana Slavíková), the Havlíčkův Brod Elementary School of the Arts (under Tamara Mašlaňová), and currently at the Prague Conservatory. Between 2015 and 2019 he won several level-one honourable mentions and first prizes in the main rounds of a competition held by the Czech Ministry of Education, in the categories of recorder, chamber music, and flute. In 2017 he advanced in violin to the Gold Round at the Youth and Bohuslav Martinů national competition, and in 2019 he won an honourable mention as a flautist at the Pro Bohemia International Competition in Ostrava.

Anna Čermáková was born in 2002. She began playing cello at the Jihlava Elementary School of the Arts, studying under Martina Charvátová, and currently she studies at the Prague Conservatory under Prof. Renata Strašrybková. Between 2011 and 2014 she won three second prizes and one award for outstanding performance in the main rounds of a competition held by the Czech Ministry of Education. Between 2017 and 2019 she won first prize three times at the same competition in the categories for cello, orchestral playing, and chamber music. In 2019 she also took part in the Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition, where she won second prize.