The Brno Music Marathon 2020 presents the first part of its programme

The Brno Music Marathon 2020 presents the first part of its programme

The multi-genre Brno Music Marathon festival is about to enter its fourth season. In August, Brno will have four days full of music that will sound in the city squares, in the festival rooms of Kateřina Šedá, and traditionally in the Alfa pasáž shopping mall. The genre representation in the programme ranges from groove, dance and Romani music through opera, folklore, world music, classics and musicals. Performers will include Pavel Fischer & Jakub Jedlinský, VUS Ondráš with a project by Jiří Slavík, the Indigo Quartet, Monika Načeva, the Epoque Quartet and many others.

Brno, which is the only city in the Czech Republic to carry the title of UNESCO Creative City of Music, will once again be resounding with music. The already traditional August Brno Music Marathon festival will offer a rich and variegated programme with recognised artists and young talents. There will be festival rooms by Kateřina Šedá this year as well, and there will be even more of them than last year. "Last year's streetless busking featured apartment concerts right in the streets. In the four open rooms it was possible to watch the concerts of the musicians and at the same time pay them a visit. You could watch live music from the bathtub, the marriage bed, or from the dining table in the kitchen. This year we will go even further: you will find literally the whole family house in the streets of Brno! For the first time in the history of the Brno Music Marathon, children's busking will be launched in the children's room, while we will offer a combination of music and a gourmet experience in the pantry," states the author Kateřina Šedá.

The Brno Music Marathon 2020 will take place from 13 to 16 August this year in the centre of Brno. The opening of the festival will take place on Thursday 13 August on Jakubské náměstí. The very first performing artists will be Pavel Fischer & Jakub Jedlinský, followed by a dulcimer music band of Ivan Herák. On the following days, visitors to the festival will be treated to dozens of live music shows, concerts and performances in both traditional and unusual places in the centre of Brno. You can look forward to the Ritmo Factory drum show, the multi-genre Epoque Quartet, the rock metal group Morčata na útěku [which in Czech means "Guinea Pigs on the Run"], Monika Načeva, Khoiba, Jan Bendig, a solo recital by Radek Bagár and an evening show by Zdeněk Král. In cooperation with the Špilberk International Music Festival, VUS Ondráš  will introduce a project by Jiří Slavík  called kRok za kRokem [a pun on "step by step" while implying “year by year”]; folk music will also be represented by the Tanečná škola Šej-Haj-Hop [Šej-Haj-Hop Dance School], which will offer classes of "verbuňk"  and "čardáš" dances from Priepasné. The Indies publishing house will celebrate 30 years of its activity in its programme, also commemorating Jitka Šuranská. The Indigo Quartet will also celebrate its 20th birthday; they invited the actress Andrea Buršová, pianist Zdeněk Král and accordionist Klára Veselá to perform in the show. In addition to the traditional Pianoštafeta [Piano Relay Race], the Alfa pasáž shopping mall will also host a new performance prepared by HausoperaHra o malinu [The Raspberry Game]. The festival also collaborates with the National Theatre Brno, which will present a production of Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák as part of its programme, and for the first time ever, it will include a joint recital by the brothers Roman and Tadeáš Hoza.

Jazz musicians from Hanover, which is a UNESCO Creative City of Music as well, will also contribute to the programme. Singers Aleš Slanina and Lucie Bergerová from the Brno City Theatre will perform on the musical stage. The Sono Centrum will be transformed into a dance floor on Friday night, and you can look forward to a Circus Brothers party. "At the moment, we have agreed on over thirty venues where music will be played. There will be those well-known and popular ones, such as Pianoštafeta in the Alfa pasáž, Nekonečné varhany [The Endless Organ] in the Jesuit Church or the Guest Stage in the courtyard of the Old Town Hall, but of course we are also planning new products. In addition to the new street rooms by Kateřina Šedá, there will also be a Groove Stage and a Musical Stage, and there will also be the traditional collaboration with the festival Na prknech, dlažbě i trávě [On the Boards, Pavement and Grass]," says the festival director David Dittrich.

"Just like in previous seasons, this year we are adding a theatre line to the Marathon with our festival Na prknech, dlažbě i trávě. We focused on the presentation of Brno's artists and theatres and on a more intimate programme designed for smaller groups of spectators. It is made up for the most part for children, but also adults will certainly enjoy themselves," says Jana Janulíková, director of TIC BRNO, further describing the programme. The festival will take place on the Elizabethan Stage of the Divadlo Husa na provázku [Goose on a String Theatre] and on Moravské Náměstí Square. Ensembles such as Divadlo Líšeň, Divadlo DNO, Divadlo II. pád, Mikro-teatro and Divadlo Polárka will be featured.

Brno Music Marathon 2019 / photo from archive of the festival

Brno Music Marathon 2019 / photo from archive of the festival

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