Rudolf Pekarek (1900 - 1974) was a conductor born in Czechoslovakia in 1900. In 1934, he founded the Film, Opera, Koncert (FOK) Symphony Orchestra in Prague, which became the Prague Symphony Orchestra in 1952. Pekarek was its chief conductor until 1941. That year he and his wife Terry (nee Gutmann) were deported to the concentration camp in Lodz (Litzmannstadt). In 1944 they were taken to Auschwitz, and were among the few survivors liberated from the camp in January 1945. Pekarek joined the Czecho-Slovak army advancing west under the command of the Soviet army. He was the chief conductor of the Army Arts Ensemble from 1945 to 1947. After returning to Prague and being reunited with his wife Pekarek was again conductor of the FOK Symphony Orchestra from 1947 to 1948. The Pekareks migrated to Australia in December 1948. Pekarek was the resident conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra from 1949. In 1954 he became the chief conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He retired from this position in 1967 but continued working as an occasional guest conductor with orchestras around Australia.