News
Affetto will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a charity concert for the Wheelchair League
The vocal-experimental group Affetto celebrates 20 years since its founding. The Wheelchair League (Liga vozíčkářů), which the ensemble will support as part of the charity concert, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its existence. The joint celebration promises a musical performance accompanied by texts written by writers Ivan Jergl and Václav Uher. more
The Brno National Theatre presented the premiere shows of the new season
The upcoming opera season will start with the 7th Janáček Brno Festival. At that festival, the NdB Janáček Opera Ensemble will present the premiere of Janáček's opera Osud [Destiny] directed by Robert Carsten, which will open the festival. The second title will be Její pastorkyňa [Jenufa] under the direction of Claus Guth. His production team from London will also come with the acclaimed performer of Janáček's roles, Karita Mattila, who will render the role of Kostelnička. The opera ensemble is heading for a total of five premieres in the new season. The NdB Ballet will present Beethoven as the first premiere title of the season. The production with music by Ludwig van Beethoven, with choreography and direction of Mário Radačovský, will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer. Jaroslav Milfajt and Ľudmila Várossová will take care of the stage and costume designs. The next title will be Stabat Mater with choreography by Pavel Šmok. more
The large courtyard of Špilberk Castle will host a double gig of the bands Monkey Business and J.A.R. in May this year. The concert is being prepared by the Fléda music club. more
Brno's music scene has been growing recently, expanding with a new festival. Pop Messe focuses on young popular music. The programme of the first season promises names such as Modeselektor, Algiers, Acid Arab, KOKOKO!, Sóley and many others. The two-day festival will take place in July 2020 in the premises of Bobycentrum and the former football stadium behind Lužánky Park. more
Ivo Kahánek and Bamberger Symphoniker led by Jakub Hrůša nominated for BBC Music Magazine Award
BBC Music Magazine nominated an album of piano concertos by Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů among the best recordings of the year. The winner of the award will be decided by voting of listeners from around the world by 19 February 2020. more
Janáček Opera begins the year 2020 with a world premiere of the opera The Monument
The Janáček Opera ensemble is preparing the world premiere of a piece written specifically for it. The Monument is a tailor-made work for the stage of the Janáček Theatre, a big orchestra, ten soloists and three choirs: the opera choir, the Czech Academic Choir and the Brno Children's Choir. The opera production is being created under the direction of David Radok, who also wrote the libretto, while the music was written by the composer and chief conductor of the Brno opera ensemble Marko Ivanović. Svatopluk Sem, Markéta Cukrová, Roman Hoza and others will appear as soloists. more
VUS Ondráš hires new dancers
The Ondráš Military Art Ensemble is hiring a dancer for the professional section of its ensemble. Expected start of employment is 3 February 2020. more
National Security Council cancelled all cultural events for more than 100 participants
The National Security Council today decided to cancel all sporting, cultural and religious events for more than 100 participants with effect from tonight, 10 March 2020. more
Brno Philharmonic: Pictures at an Exhibition will be accompanied by visualisations of Cori O'Lan
This Thursday and Friday, Brno Philharmonic will present a programme entitled Pictures at an Exhibition, which will feature three great music pieces accompanied by visualisations of Cori O´Lan. These were created in collaboration with Ars Electronica, an organisation focusing on the use of latest technologies in art. The concerts will be conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. more
Singer Eva Pilarová, a native of Brno, died today 14 March 2020. She was 80 years old. 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
