Interviews
The Liška – Malina – Nejtek group caught the attention of the Artistic Director of the JazzFestBrno Festival Vilém Spilka as soon as he heard about it: "I actually bought a pig in a poke. I made arrangements with them a long time ago and I did not even know how they sounded. I did not care whether it would be bluegrass, or new age. "The debut album has already seen the light of day, and the visitors to this year's festival will also hear the trio live. more
Find an unused, forgotten factory, write a concert customised to it and go elsewhere. The project Ztichlé budovy (Quiet Buildings) was founded by several students of art schools in Brno, the first year performed in the hall of the former MEZ factory in Židenice. This year, they will return once again, but next time they should be moving on. We talked to several members of the creative and organisational community in the Zastávka Café in Židenice about the beginnings, present and future of Ztichlé budovy. We got to talk to Anna Laborová, Petra Čtveráčková, Kristýna Uhrová, Magdalena Dostálová and Filip Dufka. This year, the MEZ building will be full of music on 28 April. more
The string quartet Nostalgia Quartet was founded a quarter century ago by the players of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra but they focus on jazz. We talked about the history and present of the ensemble with its founding member, violoncellist Radan Vach. The current line-up consists of Jakub Výborný (first violin), Bohumír Strnad (second violin) and Otakar Salajka (viola). more
Chris Corner released the album Metanoia within his solo project IAMX last autumn. On his tour, he will stop at the Fléda Club in Brno next week. We talked the day before the release of the new EP and video North Star. more
He has been playing the violin since childhood, he toured the entire world with Ida Kelarová. Violinist Milan Horváth is in charge of the jazz band The Harmonic Play and a dulcimer band. With the first one, they will accompany the screening of the silent film Bewitching Eyes in the Moravian Library. And they will also release a new album in the Museum of Roma Culture on 7 April. more
The ongoing Itch My Ha Ha Ha Festival focuses on music ranging from electronic experiments to rap and contemporary pop. The deformator of tape loops William Basinski, energetic Young Fathers and the lone singing preacher Richard Youngs found their place in the programme. The common denominator for the various performers could be that their performances resemble a musical ceremony. That may be another reason why the band Ospalý pohyb led by Slovak composer Martin Burlas fits so naturally into the festival programme. Their performance was part of an art birthday celebration on 17 January. more
The Powder Her Face opera will premiere on Friday in the Brno Reduta Theatre. The love life and divorce of the Duchess of Argyll is, however, not the essential topic of the work by British composer Thomas Adès. Composer and chief conductor of the Janáček Opera Marko Ivanović is in charge of the musical arrangement of the first production of Adès' opera on the Czech scene. We talked not only about the work itself, but also about the music of Thomas Adès and performing contemporary operas on the Brno scene. And we also touched on the Excursions of Mr. Brouček directed by Jan Švankmajer. more
Music accompanies people in the folk tradition from birth to death, in all ritual and personal contexts. An anthology of Moravian folk music started to be released four years ago. It was intended to provide a complete picture of folklore as it can be really experienced in Moravia. Two parts were added to the first five parts this autumn. Six of the current seven albums were compiled by music publicist Helena Bretfeldová. more
We met with conductor Gabriela Tardonová in Kabinet Múz where the Ensemble Opera Diversa used to sometimes play in their nomadic times. However, we were not really discussing the history of one of her home ensembles. Rather, we talked about its near and more distant future. We started, of course, with Miloš Štědroň's opera Chameleon, the premiere of which is approaching. We did, however, not forget about the Young Symphony Orchestra of Brno led by Gabriela Tardonová or her own ambitions and wishes. more
Astronautalis is almost at home both in Europe and the Czech Republic, with concert tours of the singer from Minneapolis coming to us very often. So far it does not seem that anyone would be tired of him, something unexpected can be expected on every album and at every concert. This Friday, Astronautalis will stop by at the Itch My Hahaha Festival, and then two days later in the Lucerna Music Bar in Prague. more
The Israeli composer and double bassist Avishai Cohen is one of the jazz world's most popular musicians of today. He has stopped in the Czech Republic several times, twice at the JazzFestBrno and most recently at this year's Colours of Ostrava. At the end of November, he will perform in Brno again, but this time it is an exceptional event. The concert is part of Cohen's first tour with the symphony orchestra, so in addition to the usual trio the Brno Philharmonic will also be on the stage in Bobycentrum. Before the Brno performance, we managed to get a few modest answers to several immodest questions from Avishai Cohen. more
The Vienna State Opera will present its first production of the Makropulos Affair. Not only that the opera of Leoš Janáček will be introduced to this famous opera house but Jakub Hrůša will conduct there for the first time as well. We met two days before the rehearsal started and apart from the upcoming production we talked about working in opera in general. But we also talked about the position of the principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, which Jakub Hrůša will occupy starting from next season, and about getting from Brno grammar school to a world famous career as a conductor and finally we talked a bit about dress coats and other clothes. We did not talk about the Sir Charles Mackerras Award, which Jakub Hrůša received from the Leoš Janáček Foundation, but we congratulate him nonetheless! more
Zenový čaj is not a band in the traditional sense of the word, but is a changing project in which anyone can participate at any appropriate moment. Half of the permanent members consist of the multi-instrumentalist and didgeridoo player Dalibor Neuwirt and the first album First Flush was made along with several famous musicians on the Czech scene. more
The debut of tenor Pavel Černoch in Brno was rather inconspicuous. A part of the children Kantilena is hardly remembered by the audience and the side roles in the Magic Flute are also not world shattering. But that was several years back, Pavel Černoch is a regular part of the world opera scene and he would like to conquer the Metropolitan Opera in major roles. This December he will return to Brno with his first great gala concert of his career. more
He likes solitude in the middle of nature as well as a city atmosphere; he went on the path from a rock band to a symphonic orchestra. The guest of this year’s Moravian Autumn festival is the Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür. When we were arranging the schedule of the telephone interview, we both forgot to take into consideration the different time zones and nearly missed each other. But in the end we found one other - after all everything is connected nowadays, as he too mentioned. more
On Saturday, 24 August, the Korean radio orchestra KBS Symphony Orchestra with its musical director - Finnish conductor and violinist Pietari Inkinen - came to Brno's Špilberk Festival with an exclusively romantic repertoire. The invitation was also accepted by South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim, a graduate of the prestigious Julliard School. more
For a quarter of a century now, the Brno Philharmonic has been organising the Špilberk Festival at the end of August in the courtyard of the castle of the same name. Four open-air musical evenings offer the audience a selection of concerts featuring classical, film and computer music, as well as often jazz and other genres. This makes it a diverse mix of performers and repertoires with an often pleasant, summery, laid-back ambience. This year's big and rapdily sold-out attraction was the Wednesday evening of 21 August, full of melodies from the James Bond films, performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, headed by world-renowned conductor, composer and arranger Steven Mercurio. During the concert, the audience also got to enjoy singers Sara Milfajtová, Vendula Příhodová and David Kraus. more
As part of its European tour, the Taiwanese Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir (TPCC), under the direction of artistic director and choirmaster Dr. YuChung Johnny Ku, took the city up on its invitation and visited Brno. The concert was held on Monday, 13th August in the hall of the newly renovated Passage Hotel. more
The final concert of this year's season of the Brno Philharmonic was devoted to works by Antonín Dvořák and Jean Sibelius at the Janáček Theatre. On Thursday, 20 June, Danish conductor Michael Schønwandt, who had not appeared before a Brno audience since January last year, took the lead of the Philharmonic. In the first half of the programme, the orchestra was accompanied by violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky. more
In the spirit of the idea that Brno and folklore belong together, the Folklore Ensemble Happening of the Year took place on Thursday 6 June. The event was organised by the Brno UNESCO City of Music Office in cooperation with the Brno Dances and Sings association. The event thus became part of a long-term project that set out to map the amateur music scene in Brno, and not only folk music. Last year Brno City of Music reached out to choirs in a similar way, and in the future will host garage bands and more. This just goes to prove the diversity of Brno's music scene, not only as regards professional ensembles, but also enthusiastic amateurs for whom music is an inseparable part of their lives. more
The Brno Dances and Sings Association and TIC Brno organised the 49th annual Brno Dances and Sings show on 6 June. The programme, concentrated into a single day, was busier than in previous years. The subtitle Year of Folklore Ensembles was borrowed from the project of the same name organised by the Brno UNESCO City of Music Office. more
A year ago we would have found an Asian market in the New Synagogue in Velké Meziříčí. However, the town decided to buy the building and has started to make more fitting and dignified use of it. On Wednesday 5 June, during the ongoing Concentus Moraviae festival, audiences could visit this heritage site and enjoy a chamber concert by singer and violinist Iva Bittová and her women's choir Babačka, featuring musicians Jakub Jedlinský (accordion) and Pavel Fischer (violin). more
The evening concert by Ensemble Opera Diversa entitled The Face of Water, which took place on 4 June outdoors in the atrium of the Moravian Library in Brno, was preceded by a morning discussion between Professor Miloš Štědron and Associate Professor Vladimír Maňas from the Institute of Musicology at Masaryk University. They both enjoyed an engaging talk on the theme of water in art (from Gregorian chant to the early 20th century), concluding with a sample of the edition and the playing of a recording of Janáček's symphony The Danube. The concert, conducted by Gabriela Tardonová and inspired by the theme of water, featured one world and three Czech premières. Harpist Dominika Kvardová appeared as a soloist. more
Like other music festivals, the 29th annual Concentus Moraviae International Music Festival has not only had to reflect the fact that it is the Year of Czech Music, but also the unique 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, the founder of modern Czech music. The dramaturgy of this year’s festival, which has just launched, is in the spirit of "Metamorphoses: Czech Smetana!". The first festival concert, which took place on 31 May at the Kyjov Municipal Cultural Centre, gave a hint of the direction the rest of the festival's dramaturgy will take. The organisers of the show decided to explore Smetana's work from a fresh angle and to work not only with the music, but also with the audience’s expectations. The opening evening saw a performance of Smetana's famous String Quartet No. 1 in E minor From My Life, but in an arrangement for a symphony orchestra penned by conductor and pianist George Szell. Smetana's work was complemented by the world première of the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra "Sadunkertoja" by Finnish composer, conductor and artist in residence at the 29th annual festival, Olli Mustonen, commissioned especially for the festival. Mustonen also conducted the Prague Philharmonia's performance of the two works. Danish flautist Janne Thomsen performed as soloist. more
Musical Inventory Ensemble Opera Diversa
As part of Ensemble Opera Diversa's Musical Inventory series of concerts, which began back in 2017, the ensemble aims to present (re)discovered works and composers that we rarely hear on stage. However, this dramaturgical line also offers the space and initiative to create some completely new works performed in world premières. This time, the chamber concert held on Wednesday, 29 May 2024 in the auditorium of the Rector's Office of the Brno University of Technology (BUT) was directed by the Diversa Quartet: Barbara Tolarová (1st violin), Jan Bělohlávek (2nd violin), David Křivský (viola), Iva Wiesnerová (cello), OK Percussion Duo (Martin Opršál, Martin Kneibl), soloists Aneta Podracká Bendová (soprano) and pianist Tereza Plešáková. The theme was a nod to the Prague composition school from a pedagogical and artistic perspective. more
The concert with the subtitle Haydn and Shostakovich in G Minor closed the Philharmonia at Home subscription series on Thursday 16 May at the Besední dům. It was also the last concert of the 2023/24 season (not counting Friday's reprise), with the Brno Philharmonic led by its chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies. In the second half of the evening the orchestra was accompanied by singers Jana Šrejma Kačírková (soprano) and Jiří Služenko (bass). As the title of the concert implies, the dramaturgy juxtaposed works by Joseph Haydn and Dimitri Shostakovich, which are almost exclusively linked only by the key in which they were written. more
Connection, unity, contemplation - these words can be used to describe the musical evening of Schola Gregoriana Pragensis under the direction of David Eben and organist Tomáš Thon, which took place yesterday as part of the Easter Festival of Sacred Music at the church of St. Thomas. Not only the singing of a Gregorian chant, but also the works of composer Petr Eben (1929-2007) enlivened the church space with sound and colour for an hour. more
With a concert called Ensemble Inégal: Yesterday at the church of St. John, Zelenka opened the 31st edition of the Easter Festival of Sacred Music, this time with the suffix Terroir. This slightly mysterious word, which is popularly used in connection with wine, comes from the Latin word for land or soil, and carries the sum of all the influences, especially the natural conditions of a particular location and on the plants grown there. This term is thus metonymically transferred to the programme of this year's VFDH, as it consists exclusively of works by Czech authors, thus complementing the ongoing Year of Czech Music. more
For the fourth subscription concert of the Philharmonic at Home series, which took place on 14 March at the Besední dům and was entitled Mozartiana, the Brno Philharmonic, this time under the direction of Czech-Japanese conductor Chuhei Iwasaki, chose four works from the 18th to 20th centuries. These works are dramaturgically linked either directly through their creation in the Classical period or by inspiration from musical practices typical of that period. The first half of the concert featured Martina Venc Matušínská with a solo flute. more
The second stop on the short Neues Klavier Trio Dresden's Czech-German tour was at the concert hall of the Janáček Academy of Music on 6 March at 16:00. A programme consisting of world premières by two Czech and two German composers was performed in four cities (Prague, Brno, Leipzig and Dresden). more
Editorial
Gloria Brunensis women's choir wins gold in the Praga Cantat competition
This year's 35th annual Prague Cantat international choir competition also featured the Brno choir Gloria Brunensis, which won first place in the Women's Choir category and a special prize for its performance of Der Wassermann. more
Zuzana Čtveráčková's translations were selected for the EU Songbook
Zuzana Čtveráčková, translator for the Brno City Theatre, has won the competition organised by the European Union Songbook Association, which in July 2020 invited translators to translate the lyrics of selected Czech songs into singable/melodic English. more
Singer-songwriter, composer and producer Katarzia is preparing two concerts with her band. They will be played in Brno and Prague. Both performances will feature a special line-up combining acoustic instruments and electronics. The music and lyrics will be enhanced by projected works of Czech-Icelandic artist DVDJ NNS. In addition, the Brno concert will be filmed by Czech Television under the direction of Tereza Reková. At the same time, Katarzia will be presenting some new work - her electronic album "Rest in Euphoria" with music composed for the eponymous performance of Prague's Cirk La Putyka will be released in early December. more
The Cotatcha Orchestra big band has been on the music scene for 10 years. They will be celebrating with a spectacular concert at the Goose on a String Theatre together with four guests - singers Lenka Dusilová and Géraldine Schnyder, double bass matador Vincenzo Kummer and trombonist and Latin Grammy winner Ilja Reijngoud. The sixteen-member ensemble nominated for the Anděl Award was founded by trumpeter Jiří Kotača to play original and original big band music. The anniversary concert will feature a selection of their best from past and present, including new works. All accompanied by animations by Magdalena Bláhová. more
Janáček Brno Festival: Change of programme - Staatskapelle Berlin will be led by Jakub Hrůša
Due to an injury, the Staatskapelle Berlin will not be led by its chief conductor Christian Thielemann at the festival concert. Standing in for him will be conductor Jakub Hrůša, who has already performed with his Bamberg Symphonies at the Janáček Brno Festival this year. more
The Brno Philharmonic announces a new date for Pavel Černoch’s concert
The Brno Philharmonic has announced a new date for Pavel Černoch's concert, as a substitute for his summer concert at Špilberk that was brought to an end by a storm. The concert is scheduled for May 2025. more
Culture Newsletter of the Culture Department of the Brno City Municipality, November 2024
The Brno Culture Newsletter presents an overview of upcoming events and opportunities concerning theatres, clubs and other cultural events in Brno. more
Although there are still two concerts left before the end of this year's JazzFestBrno festival, the organisers are already coming up with the line-up for next year. From the beginning of February to May, they’ll be offering a total of thirteen concerts featuring major world jazz stars and intimate performances from the Club Life series in the stylish Cabaret des Péchés. The winner of five Grammys, singer Dianne Reeves, one of the most respected figures in the world of orchestral jazz, nine-time Grammy winner Maria Schneider with the Oslo Jazz Ensemble, jazz piano stars and Grammy winners Kris Davis and Sullivan Fortner, the British trio Mammal Hands combining jazz and electronics, Italian virtuoso guitarist Matteo Mancuso - these and many others will all be coming to Brno. more
Brno Contemporary Orchestra: A breath in and a long breath out for forty drowned children on Mendlovo náměstí
The concert is dedicated to the memory of the forty children drowned during World War II on Mendlovo náměstí (20 November 1944). The concert will feature the world premières of two commissioned compositions, Adagio for Orchestra by Adrián Demoč and the meditative Exercise of Breath and Spirit by Pavel Zlámal. Clarinettist Marek Švejkar will perform the Czech première of Domaines by Pierre Boulez and the final performance will be the somewhat atypical Actions by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. more
Schnittke 90 & Bach: The Brno Philharmonic launches another subscription series
Johann Sebastian Bach as a ground-breaking composer and the composers who were inspired by his work are the subject of the concert Schnittke 90 & Bach, to be played by the Brno Philharmonic on Thursday and Friday, opening another subscription series. The concerts will be conducted by Robert Kružík at the Besední dům. more
