Czech Philharmonic • Daniel Harding

French horn player Radek Baborák is one of the leading figures on the Czech and international music scene. This is evidenced by his long-standing career as a soloist—at the age of 18, he began a two-year stint as principal hornist with the Czech Philharmonic; he gained further experience as a solo horn player with the Munich Philharmonic and, between 2003 and 2010, with the Berlin Philharmonic. In addition to solo performances, he divides his professional career between chamber music, teaching, and conducting.

He is the founder of the Baborak Ensemble, with which he regularly performs at Mozartwoche Salzburg, in the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, and in Japan, for example. The core of the ensemble consists of a French horn and a string quartet, but it expands to include various other instruments as needed—for example, the Orquestrina project, which focuses on dance music, was created within the ensemble. Radek Baborák also arranges various compositions for his ensemble, such as works by the Argentine composer Ástor Piazzolla. Since 2016, he has also served as artistic director of the Prague Chamber Soloists.

As part of his teaching activities, he has taught at the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Bologna, the Escuela Reina Sofía in Madrid, TOHO University in Tokyo, and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He is currently a visiting professor at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and a mentor at the MenART Scholarship Academy.

In 2011, he expanded his musical career to include conducting. His mentor was the Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, whom he assisted with the Mito Chamber Orchestra. As a conductor, he has also collaborated with other Czech and international ensembles, including the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic. He founded and serves as artistic director of the Czech Sinfonietta Orchestra, which performs at renowned festivals in the Czech Republic (Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague, Smetana’s Litomyšl) and is also honorary conductor of the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra in Mariánské Lázně.

Radek Baborák is also actively involved in the education and support of young musicians. This is evidenced, for example, by his Showcase project, through which young artists have the opportunity to delve deeper into the professional music world and gain new contacts and opportunities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also organized two fundraisers to help independent artists and subsequently supported Ukrainian musicians through his projects.

In 2020, the international music festival Horn Fest Prague was established on his initiative, building on the rich and long-standing Czech (and global) tradition of the French horn. In December 2025, he performed in Wrocław, Poland, as part of the National Forum of Music with the NFM Leopoldinum orchestra, taking on three roles—soloist, conductor, and composer—with his composition L’Orangerie.

Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, the singer of Singaporean and British origin and winner of the 2025 Grammy Award for her performance in the lead role in Kaija Saariahoʼs opera Adriana Mater, is also involved in concert performances and chamber and solo recitals in addition to opera. She performs with leading orchestras and conductors around the world, and in the 2024/2025 season, we had the opportunity to hear her with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Semyon Bychkov in Mahlerʼs Songs on the Death of Children cycle as part of her concert tour. Gustav Mahlerʼs work occupies a significant part of her repertoire, but 20th and 21st century music and early Baroque compositions are no exception. At recitals, she is most frequently accompanied by Julius Drake, with whom she will perform in Genoa, London, Paris, and South Korea during the 2025/2026 season. Fleur Barron also focuses on projects that promote the interconnection of divergent cultures, having herself grown up in a very culturally diverse environment. Alongside her performing career, she also gives many masterclasses each year.

Andrew Staples is considered one of the most versatile tenors of his generation, appearing regularly with Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra. We could also see him at the Salzburg and Lucerne music festivals. He has performed several times in the Czech Republic, at the National Theater in Prague, the State Opera, and with the Czech Philharmonic, where we could hear him in Schumann’s oratorio Paradise and the Peri and in Handel’s Messiah. In 2025, he was praised by critics for his performance in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among other things. His creative output includes concert and opera singing, directing opera, filmmaking and photography.

British conductor Daniel Harding was the music and artistic director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra until 2025, where he worked for 18 years. In 2024, he took over as music director of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and choir, and in the same year he also became head of the Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG) program, an international orchestral academy and festival in the Greater Bay Area of southern China that brings together young musicians from around the world. He was Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris from 2016–2019 and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2007–2017. He is honoured with the lifetime title of Conductor Laureate of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has worked for over 20 years. In addition to his concert engagements, he is also a frequent guest at prestigious opera houses such as La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Berlin and Vienna State Operas. 

He made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic in 2023, conducting Schumann’s oratorio Paradise and the Peri. In the 2026/2027 season, he will collaborate with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

He has received numerous awards for his recordings. His Mahler and Orff albums with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, have received widespread critical acclaim. For Virgin/EMI he has recorded Mahler’s and Brahms’ symphonies; Billy Budd with London Symphony Orchestra (a winner of a Grammy Award for best opera recording); Don Giovanni and The Turn of the Screw with Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Choc de lʼAnnée 2002, the Grand Prix de lʼAcadémie Charles Cros and a Gramophone award); works by Lutosławski and Britten (Choc de LʼAnnée 1998). His most recent recordings include a live performance of a Violin concerto by contemporary British composer Helen Grime with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Puccini’s Tosca with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra, and Violin concertos by S. Barber and J. Sibelius with soloist Renaud Capuçon.

Daniel Harding was born in Oxford and made his mark as a conductor at a very young age. He had the opportunity to assist Simon Rattle with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Claudio Abbado with the Berlin Philharmonic, with whom he made his debut at the age of 21. In 1996, he also became the youngest conductor ever to conduct a concert at the BBC Proms. He is also a recipient of the Order of Arts and Letters, which he received from the French government in 2002, and the Order of the British Empire (2021). In addition to his numerous musical commitments, he is also a professional pilot for Air France.