Czech Philharmonic • Maxim Emelyanychev

He has been concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic for more than a decade, has been performing as a soloist since the age of twelve, and also devotes himself to chamber music as a member of The Trio: the young cellist Václav Petr has established himself as one of the most successful artists of his generation.

He learned the basics of cello playing from Mirek Škampa at the Jan Neruda School in Prague, studied under Daniel Veis at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and then graduated under Michal Kaňka. He further perfected his playing under the guidance of Wolfgang Boettcher at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and participated in a number of international masterclasses in Kronberg, Hamburg, Vaduz, Bonn, and Baden-Baden. He has also achieved a remarkable number of competition successes since childhood (Prague Junior Note, International Cello Competition in Liezen, Austria, Talents of Europe, Concertino Praga) and gradually worked his way up to the most prestigious European competitions (semi-finalist in the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann competition, winner of the Prague Spring competition).

At the age of 24, he won an audition for the Czech Philharmonic, becoming one of the youngest concertmasters in the orchestra’s history. He has also performed several times as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic, including in 2024 at the Dvořák Prague Festival, where he played the world premiere of Petr Wajsar’s Concerto for cello under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher. He has also performed as a soloist with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, and the Baden-Baden Philharmonie.

Václav Petr has also enjoyed great success as a chamber musician. Between 2009 and 2020, he was a member of the Josef Suk Piano Quartet, with which he won first prizes in the chamber ensemble competition in Val Tidone, Italy, the Salieri-Zinetti chamber ensemble competition, and one of the most prestigious competitions for chamber ensembles with piano, the Premio Trio di Trieste. In 2019, together with Jiří Vodička, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, and pianist Martin Kasík, he founded the Czech Philharmonic Piano Trio, later renamed The Trio. In 2020, they recorded Bohuslav Martinů’s Bergerettes in period costumes and won an international competition in Vienna.

In the winter of 2026, Václav Petr performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano together with violinist Jan Fišer and pianist Karolina Pancernaite, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Giovanni Antonini. Critics praised his “brightness, wonderful articulation, and silvery tone.”

Václav Petr plays a master instrument from the workshop of Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, a Teschenmacher model from 1757, on loan from a private collection.

Soon after his conducting debut at the age of twelve, Maxim Emelyanychev was invited to conduct many Baroque and symphony orchestras in Russia. In 2013, he became chief conductor of Il Pomo d’Oro, an ensemble dedicated to historically informed performance, with which he has already completed a number of international concert tours and collaborated with artists such as mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, with whom he has made several award-winning recordings. He recently began recording Mozart’s complete symphonies with the ensemble.

Since 2019, he has also been the chief conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – his collaboration with this ensemble began a year earlier when he was invited to stand in as a conductor, resulting in his immediate and unanimous appointment as principal conductor. Right at the beginning of his tenure, his contract was extended until 2025 and has since been further renewed until 2028. Maxim Emelyanychev has performed with the orchestra at the BBC Proms, toured extensively throughout Europe, and recorded symphonies by Schubert and Mendelssohn, among others.

As a guest conductor, he enjoys working with both symphony and chamber orchestras throughout Europe and beyond, including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Paris Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and orchestras in Seattle, Toronto, and Tokyo. In the 2025/2026 season, he took up the position of principal guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and thanks to his versatility, he has also been invited by leading concert halls to serve as a resident artist, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Philharmonie Essen. Next season, he will also make his debut with the Czech Philharmonic.

He also has a number of opera successes to his credit, including Handel’s Rinaldo at the Glyndebourne Festival, Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio at the Zurich Opernhaus. He has also conducted other Mozart productions at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.

In addition to conducting, an important part of his musical life is playing keyboard instruments, especially the harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano. In this capacity, he collaborates with orchestras and soloists, and also forms a duo with violinist Aylen Pritchin, with whom he has performed in recitals at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Dubrovnik Festival, and the Luxembourg Philharmonie, among others. They have also recorded Brahms’ piano and violin sonatas together.

Maxim Emelyanychev is also the recipient of numerous awards – in 2013, he won the Golden Mask Award for his performance in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Perm Opera (conductor Teodor Currentzis). He is also the recipient of the 2019 Young Talent Award in the Music Section of the Critics’ Circle, and in the same year he was awarded the International Opera Award in the Newcomer category. His most recent award is the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Music Prize from 2025.