In an Old Photo: Today's premiere of the ÚstaF-voiceband.cz ensemble

8 November 2019, 1:00
In an Old Photo: Today's premiere of the ÚstaF-voiceband.cz ensemble

Brno's ÚstaF-voiceband.cz is the only ensemble of its kind in the Czech Republic. It devotes itself to the interpretation of poetry on theatre stages. Today, Friday 8 November, it will present the premiere of its performance In an Old Photo, which will also be one of the first theatrical pieces in the newly created Brno field of performing arts called Terrain. The premiere deals with the work of Pernambuco by Ivan Wernisch.

The voice band formation ÚstaF-voiceband.cz in its performance Na staré fotce[In an Old Photo] is based on the Pernambuco collection . The upcoming premiere enters the stormy waters and mysterious depths of the ocean of poetry by Ivan Wernisch, where tragic becomes grotesque and the tentacles of the absurdity krakens tickle both bellies and brain ampersands. The premiere is announced to take place today, 8 November  2019 at 7:30 pm in the Centre of Experimental Theatre at Zelný trh.

The ÚstaF-voiceband.cz theatre association was founded in 1997 in Brno-Komín at the Pastviny High School under the leadership of Zdeněk R. Šturma. Subsequently, he and the ensemble moved to Křenová High School, which has ever since provided its patronage to the band. During the time of existence of the ensemble, several concerts and stage shows have been produced  (The Best of Voiceband, productions such as Brno, You're Cursed, Owner, Ky-ky-ti-ce-ce, etc.). The association cooperates with Brno's Hadivadlo  theatre (performances such as  Czech Currency, Velemarš), performs at Wolker's Prostějov, Jirásek's Hronov and Šrámek's Písek festivals, etc. During the Moravian Autumn 2019 festival it collaborated on the world premiere of Gide's play Oedipus with Bohuslav Martinů's incidental music. Now it has become a guest theatre component of Terrain, which has been the third stage of the Centre of Experimental Theatre in Brno since this year. 

The poet Ivan Wernisch was born in 1942 in Prague. He wrote several dozen poetry collections, the first of which, Kam letí nebe [Where the Sky Flies], was published in 1961. He was also the editor of six poetry anthologies and translator of German, Flemish and Russian poetry. He was awarded the State Prize for Literature in 2012 for his lifelong work, in 2018 he was awarded the Franz Kafka International Prize and in 2019 he also won the Magnesia Litera award for the Pernambuco collection . His poetry is used in literary stylizations and mystifications that blur the line between reality and imagination.

ÚstaF-voiceband.cz / archive photo of the ensemble

Comments

Reply

No comment added yet..

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 MilfajtováVendula Příhodová and David Krausmore

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 Sitkovetskymore

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