Gramophone’s 2024 Orchestra of the Year, the 129-year-old Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert—an all-Dvořák program conducted by the composer himself—in Prague’s Rudolfinum on January 4, 1896. Acknowledged for its definitive performances of Czech composers, the orchestra is also recognized for its deep relationships to Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Gustav Mahler, who conducted the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 with the orchestra in 1908. It is currently recording the complete cycle of Mahler’s symphonies for Pentatone with Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov.

The Czech Philharmonic’s extraordinary and proud history reflects both its location at the very heart of Europe and the Czech Republic’s turbulent political history, for which Smetana’s Má vlast has become a potent symbol. For the Year of Czech Music in 2024, the orchestra celebrated the bicentenary of Smetana’s birth with a new recording of Má vlast conducted by Mr. Bychkov and rare concert performances of Libuše with Principal Guest Conductor Jakub Hrůša. At Carnegie Hall, they are joined by the orchestra’s artist-in-residence, Daniil Trifonov, along with Yo-Yo Ma and Gil Shaham.

Two features have remained at the Czech Philharmonic’s core throughout its history: the championing of Czech composers, and a belief in music’s power to change lives. From as early as the 1920s, Václav Talich, the orchestra’s chief conductor from 1919 to 1941, pioneered concerts for workers, young people, and volunteer organizations—a philosophy that is equally as vibrant today.

Along with its youth orchestra, orchestral academy, and Jiří Bělohlávek Prize for young musicians, the Czech Philharmonic’s comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools. An inspirational music and song program led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romany communities within the Czech Republic and Slovakia has helped many socially excluded families find a voice. As part of the Year of Czech Music, four members of the orchestral academy perform with young musicians from Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Academy of Music, with which the Czech Philharmonic holds an annual education exchange program.

Semyon Bychkov’s tenure as chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic began in 2018 with a series of concerts in Prague, London, New York, and Washington, DC, that marked the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovak independence. The following year saw the culmination of The Tchaikovsky Project, an exploration of the composer’s works that featured concerts, residencies, and recordings of his symphonies for Decca Classics.

In recognition of the Year of Czech Music in 2024, Mr. Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic give pride of place to Czech composers both at home and on tour in Europe and the US. In addition, Pentatone has released recordings of Smetana’s Má vlast and Dvořák’s symphonies nos. 7, 8, and 9, coupled with the trio of overtures Nature, Life, and Love. Mr. Bychkov and the orchestra are currently midway through a complete cycle of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies.

Mr. Bychkov brings a unique combination of innate musicality and rigorous Russian pedagogy to repertoire that spans four centuries. He holds honorary titles with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Academy of Music, and has recorded with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Royal Concertgebouw, Philharmonia, and London Philharmonic orchestras; Berliner Philharmoniker; Orchestre de Paris; and WDR Symphony Orchestra. He was named Conductor of the Year at the International Opera Awards in 2015 and by Musical America in 2022.

Like the Czech Philharmonic, Mr. Bychkov has one foot firmly in the culture of the East and the other in the West. Born in St. Petersburg in 1952, he immigrated to the United States in 1975 and has lived in Europe since the mid-1980s. He returned to the former Soviet Union in 1989 as principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra; that same year, he was named music director of the Orchestre de Paris. In 1997, he was appointed chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, and in 1998, he became chief conductor of the Semperoper Dresden.

Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time; his flawless technique, inimitable warmth, and generosity of spirit have solidified his renown as an American master. He is sought-after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years include a recording and performances of J. S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and recitals with his longtime duo partner, pianist Akira Eguchi. He regularly appears with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles and New York philharmonics, and Orchestre de Paris, and in multi-year residencies with orchestras in Montreal, Stuttgart, and Singapore.

Mr. Shaham’s more than two-dozen recordings have earned multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Many of these recordings appear on Canary Classics, the label he founded in 2004. His 2016 recording, 1930s Violin Concertos Vol. 2, and his 2021 recording of the Beethoven and Brahms concertos with The Knights were nominated for Grammy Awards.

Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. At the age of seven, he moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music and received annual scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the following year, he won first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition. He then became a scholarship student at Juilliard, and also studied at Columbia University.

Mr. Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008, he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. In 2012, he was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and performs on an Antonio Stradivari violin, Cremona ca. 1719, with the assistance of Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.