Petr Altrichter ranks among the best of the Czech contemporary conductors. He graduated from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno (1978). His first success came at the international conducting competition in Besancon in 1976. After that he conducted a great many Czech orchestras as a guest, among them the Czech Philharmonic and the State Philharmonic Brno. He directed the Chamber Philharmonic of Pardubice, from 1987 he was a conductor and later chief conductor (till 1991) of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and later on became chief conductor of the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Constance, while continuing in the position of permanent guest conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. From 1997 he was chief of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted the English Chamber Orchestra. Since 2002 he has been chief conductor of the State Philharmonic Brno and since 2003 has held the post of the first conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Petr Altrichter is an internationally acclaimed conductor. He has performed in many countries of Europe, in the USA and Japan and has made many recordings.