Libor Pešek was born in 1933 and studied conducting at the Prague Academy of Musical Arts with Karel Ancerl, Vaclav Smetacek and Vaclav Neumann. He set up the Prague Chamber Harmony and made great number of concert tours abroad and many successful gramophone records with this ensemble. Later Libor Pešek collaborated with various chamber ensembles, e. g. with the Sebastian Orchestra, the Dvorak Chamber Orchestra and the Pardubice State Chamber Orchestra. For nine years he directed orchestras at Leeuwarden and Enschede in Holland and was for many years principal conductor of the Pardubice State Orchestra. He frequently was guest-conductor with orchestras in various European countries, the United States, and Japan.
After achieving considerable success as music director of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava, in 1982 Libor Pešek moved to Prague to become conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1987 to 1997 he was Principal Conductor and Musical Adviser of the Royal Liverpol Philharmonic Orchestra - and is currently Conductor Laureate of the RLPO. In 1990 he became Principal Guest Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra.
The high honors bestowed on Libor Pešek in England (where he holds the order of Honorary Knighthood of the British Empire and is an honorary member of the Lancashire County University in Preston) and at home are symbolic expressions of thanks for his extraordinary artistic work to date.
