News
The Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc will open its 75th season with a world premiere today
The Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc is now entering its 75th concert season, which will begin with music by the Czech composers Antonín Dvořák, Bohuslav Martinů, Iša Krejčí and Marek Keprt. The last of them wrote a composition directly for the Moravian Philharmonic. The orchestra will play it tonight under the baton of the chief conductor Jakub Klecker, with the pianist Ivo Kahánek appearing as a soloist. The concert will be broadcast live by Czech Radio on its Vltava station. more
The situation in the Czech club scene has been alarming for a long time now. Music clubs, which were the first to close in the first wave of the coronavirus crisis, are now facing serious existential problems. Without state aid to the cultural sector, there is a threat of absolute bankruptcy in the coming weeks. more
Ensemble Opera Diversa: Kyas, Bernáth, MacMillan and Pärt
The church concert of the Ensemble Opera Diversa was originally supposed to present Ondřej Kyas' oratorio Stabat Mater; due to the current situation, however, the production of this work will be replaced by a purely instrumental performance of other compositions. The new programme will feature MacMillan's Seraph, a concerto for trumpet and strings with Vít Otáhal as the soloist, and Arvo Pärt's Festina lente with Dominika Kvardová playing the harp. The concert will be complemented by instrumental works by Ondřej Kyas and Ľuboš Bernáth with the Czech premiere of a rarely performed piece - Summa by Arvo Pärt. The concert will be conducted by Gabriela Tardonová. more
The Janáček Theatre building has been serving art for 55 years now
The Janáček Theatre, which is part of the National Theatre Brno and hosts the Brno opera and ballet ensembles, is celebrating 55 years of its existence. The operation of this theatre began on 2 October 1965 with a performance of The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček. more
Latest: Barbara Maria Willi will be the new dean of the JAMU Faculty of Music
The Faculty of Music of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts will be led for the next four years by Professor Barbara Maria Willi, Ph.D. At its meeting yesterday, the academic senate of the faculty decided on it in a secret vote. Professor Willi applied for this management position at the JAMU Faculty of Music with Associate Professor MgA. Vít Spilka. more
The Janáček Brno Festival has successfully fought its way through difficult conditions this year
This year's Janáček Brno festival of opera and music had to adapt to a complicated situation in the context of the pandemic. Despite that, the festival was a great success. The organisers managed to do as much as they could to keep its programme, which touched on the artistic turmoil at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the search for new approaches in the musical expression of operatic and instrumental works. more
The Nouvelle Prague music conference will be held online this year and free of charge
The eighth annual session of the Nouvelle Prague music conference and show will take place online this year. You will be able to watch lectures, workshops and mentoring meetings with representatives of festivals, clubs, publishing houses and music media safely from home. more
Alena Veselá obtained a state award
Organist, music teacher, rector emeritus of JAMU and founder of the Brno Organ Festival – Prof. Alena Veselá received a state award from the President of the Czech Republic for her merits in the field of art. more
Bonjour Brno: You can watch Ira Mimosa's concert online today
Tonight you can watch a festival online concert full of French songs performed by the singer-songwriter and guitarist Ira Mimosa. more
The Brno-based big band Cotatcha Orchestra has now released its second single called Billy's Pilgrimage, with Lenka Dusilová appearing as a guest singer. The single is part of the upcoming album Bigbandová elektronika / Bigband Electronics, which will be released on the American label Parma Recordings as soon as tomorrow. 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
