Bio
LIBOR PEŠEK, conductor
Libor Pešek has enjoyed an international conducting career for over 50 years and he continues as Principal Guest Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Pešek will conduct this season and next the Orquestre Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Tonkunstler, Orquesta Filharmonica de Gran Canaria, Royal Flemish Phiharmonic for the Dvorak Festival and also return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Orchestral highlights of recent seasons include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Danish Radio Symphony, La Scala, Milan, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, the London Philharmonic, the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, and the Orquesta de Valencia, as well as major UK tours with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic from 1987-1997. In his capacity as their Principal Conductor, Libor Pesek took the RLPO on their first tour of the USA which was greeted with great critical acclaim in the major cities they visited. In May 1993 they performed the opening two concerts of the Prague Spring Festival, the first time a non-Czech orchestra was honored with such an invitation for many years, and they returned there in May 1996. Pesek and the RLPO have also toured Austria and Germany, including three concerts in Salzburg and the orchestra's debut at the Musikverein in Vienna. The orchestra was regular visitors to the Proms throughout Pesek's tenure in Liverpool.
Libor Pešek is a frequent visitor to the USA where he has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St Louis Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras and the Detroit Symphony orchestra among others.
Libor Pešek has recorded extensively for Virgin Classics. His complete Dvorak Symphonies with the Czech Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras received the greatest acclaim. Other releases include Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, Smetana's Ma Vlast, Mahler Symphonies 9 & 10 and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. The Czech repertoire is of course of special interest to Pešek and, in addition to Dvorak, he has recorded works by Suk, Martinu and Janacek.
Libor Pešek was born in Prague and studied conducting with Karel Ancerl, Vaclav Neumann and Vaclav Smetacek at the Prague Academy of Musical Arts. In 1958 he founded the Prague Chamber Harmony and with them established his conducting career in the former Czechoslovakia. In 1980 he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic, and then Conductor-in-Residence of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
In March 1996 Queen Elizabeth II made Libor Pešek a Knight of the British Empire and in 1997 he was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire.
October 2011
Biography
KMI
