When Dvořák had finished his studies he got his first job playing in a band in restaurants and for balls. This was a time when there was suddenly a great interest in national culture in Bohemia. Plays and operas were allowed to be performed in the Czech language. The band he played with became part of the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra, which from 1866 was conducted by Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák was principal viola player in the orchestra. He earned extra money by teaching, and he started to compose.