National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C.. Its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Film Symphony Orchestra
It was founded in June 1943 as in-house orchestra of the Barrandov Studios in Prague and was later socialised by the Czech government until 1989 when government support was canceled and the orchestra shut down due to economic reasons. In 1991 a private company "FISYO s.r.o." was found by one of the orchestra's members in order to continue the ensemble's work. To date the orchestra has recorded music for over 5000 Czech and international movies, in particular German, French, Belgian, Greek, Italian, denish, Norway, Canadian, American and Japanese films. Notable titles include Blue Velvet and The Bourne Identity, which earned the orchestra an Emmy Award. Next to its recording acitivies it still performs live in concert. Concert tours have brought the ensemble for example to the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where it performed with chanson singer Veronique Sanson. Successful concerts also include tours to England and the USA, where it performed Jan Klusák’s film music from Erotikon, a 1929 film, directed by Czech film director Gustav Machatý. Influential conductors include in particular František Belfín and Štěpán Koníček. The orchestra has been using the name "Czech Symphony Orchestra" for their international concert performances, starting 1991.