Jiří Petrdlík is appreciated as one of the most respectable European conductors of his generation. He studied piano, trombone, and conducting (1995–2000 Prague Conservatory, 2000–2005 Academy of Performing Arts Prague) with Miroslav Košler, Miriam Němcová, Jiří Bělohlávek, Radomil Eliška, Tomáš Koutník, František Vajnar, and others. He completed his studies in the masterclasses of former music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra Kurt Masur and former chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Jiří Bělohlávek.
Jiří Petrdlík has also successfully taken part in several competitions (e.g. American Opera Competition, D. Flick Conductor Competition London).
From 2002 to 2009, he worked as permanent conductor in the National Theatre of Brno and music director and principal conductor in the Municipal Theatre of Brno. Since 2004, he has been the permanent conductor in the Pilsner Theatre, and as a guest, Petrdlík regularly cooperates with many prominent opera theatres (e.g. Messina, Toulouse, Warsaw, Odessa, Szeged, Cairo, Lisbon, Porto, North Texas University Opera, Prague National Theatre, etc.).
In the field of symphonic music, Jiří Petrdlík conducts many prominent Czech and foreign orchestras (Prague Symphony Orchestra, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in Olomouc, North Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra in Teplice, Janáček Philharmonic in Ostrava, Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice, MTM Orchestra Warsaw, KSO Toronto, Podkarpacka Philharmonic Orchestra in Rzeszów, Baoding Symphony Orchestra, etc.).
Jiří Petrdlík regularly appears in prestigious music festivals in Europe, China, Japan, Canada, and the USA. In 2010, Petrdlík started his successful and long cooperation with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, where he was appointed general artistic director and principal conductor 2011–2015. In the 2014/15 season, Petrdlík made his successful debut in Alte Oper Frankfurt, and since the 2015/16 season, he has been permanent guest conductor of Podkarpacka Philharmonic Orchestra in Rzeszów (Poland). In December 2015, he conducted the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra of Olomouc on its first concert tour to China, and in April 2016, he was invited to Musikverein in Vienna. As the permanent conductor of Parma Recordings, Jiří Petrdlík actively promotes contemporary symphonic music.
In addition to his orchestral conducting career, Jiří Petrdlík has developed rich activities as a choirmaster (2002–2010 choirmaster of the Charles University Choir, since 2009 artistic director of the Prague Mixed Choir), musicologist (Charles University Prague – Ph.D. degree), publisher, and teacher (Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory Prague). Since 1998, Jiří Petrdlík has been a permanent member and chairman of the Jury of Praga Cantat Competition, and member and deputy chairman of the Dvořák Society Committee. He is also chairman of the Fibich Society and music director of the world unique International Festival of Concert Melodrama.
Petrdlík´s wide repertory includes compositions of various musical genres, styles, and periods. In the field of discography and recording activities, he often turns his attention to rarely performed titles (e.g. Gluck – Ezio, Beethoven – Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II and Cantata on the Accession of Emperor Leopold II, Foerster – Glagolitic Mass, Fibich – Missa brevis, Arend – Astral Travels, Martinů – La Revue Cuisine, Prokofiev – Eugene Onegin etc.).
Jan Steyer, conductor and organist, graduated from the Prague Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. In addition to his studies, he actively took part in many masterclass courses led by prominent world music personalities, focused on interpretation of old and contemporary music. He started his conducting career as an artistic leader of the vocal-instrumental ensemble Collegium Carmina Antiqua, specializing in old music interpretation, and then he worked as the choirmaster of the Prague Girls’ Choir. Today he is artistic leader of the ČVUT Mixed Choir, one of the largest Prague choirs, and choirmaster of the Prague Mixed Choir. As a guest conductor, Jan Steyer cooperates with many both non-professional and professional music ensembles (North Czech Philharmonic in Teplice, Band of the Castle Guards and the Police of the Czech Republic, Smíchov Chamber Philharmonic). He also worked as a music instructor at New York University Prague (vocal ensembles) and is regularly invited to music masterclass courses, where he teaches organ improvisation and conducting. He is employed as a teacher of conducting at the Pedagogic Faculty of the Charles University. Jan Steyer is a jury member of many international choir and conducting competitions and festivals (Gymnasia Cantant; Young Bohemia Prague; Choirmaster Competition of Pedagogic Faculties; International Chamber Choir Competition in Rzeszów, Poland; Jinan International Chorus Festival, in China; etc.). He is employed as an organist of the Charles University in Prague, and he often cooperates as organist with the Czech Philharmonic. He has taken part in many CD recordings, as both performer and music director, and he records for Czech Radio and Czech Television. He has performed in most countries of Europe, as well as repeatedly in Japan, Russia, Egypt, China, and Canada.
The baritone Martin Vodrážka studied in Prof. Naděžda Kniplová’s class at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. After graduation, he took more lessons with P. De Napoli, M. Cavalcanti, S. Austin and S. Morcheck. He has been very successful at significant international singing competitions (National Association of Teachers of Singing, USA; Imrich Godin International Vocal Competition, SK; The Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition, CZ). He has been recording for the Czech Radio and the Czech Television and has performed in many countries of Europe.
Apart from his operatic roles, he focuses mainly on concert and oratorio repertoire (Dvořák, Fauré, Duruflé, Mozart, Händel etc.). He has been also ardently active at song interpretation – he has helped gaining publicity to the song cycle The Wooden Christ by Jan Hanuš, praised not only by local reviews but also by the American audience at the first abroad performance of the cycle in 2019 in Denton, TX. He has co-operated with significant pianists and conductors (V. Spurný, R. Válek, P. Louženský, M. Javorček, W. van Schalckwick and others). As a soloist, he has performed with many professional and non-professional orchestras (Hradec Králové Philharmonic, South Bohemian Philharmonic, Collegium Musicum Berlin, Bum Chamber Orchestra) as well as with ensembles specializing at interpretation of old music (Harmonia Delectabilis, Ensemble Guilleume).
He has been very active as a singing pedagogue – apart form private tutoring, he has been a vocal coach of the Prague Mixed Choir and the Palacký University Choir Ateneo since 2018. In 2019, he lectured at the College of Music of University of North Texas, USA.