The Prague Philharmonic Choir was founded by Jan Kühn in 1935. Until 1945 the choir, under name Czech Choir, worked for radio and performed a very broad repertoire. In 1953 it was joined with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1970 it was renamed the Prague Philharmonic Choir. At present it is an independent ensemble. It has been headed by many excellent personalities: after the death of its founder Jan Kühn (1959) the choir was led by Josef Veselka for over twenty years, from 1981 till 1991 by Lubomír Mátl and a new era began in 1991 with the founder´s son Pavel Kühn. Since 1996 its chief choir master has been Jaroslav Brych, who has successfully been developing the legacy of his predecessors. The Prague Philharmonic Choir has been regularly invited to leading international festivals and has performed abroad many times, both at cantata concerts and in opera houses (regularly in Italy). Outstanding international conductors (Abbado, Solti, Sawalisch, Maazel, Mehta, Chailly and Rattle) book it for their appearances, but its work with Czech orchestras has been equally important. The choir has recorded hundreds of compositions, both cantatas and operas. It regularly gives concerts a capella.