winner of the International Music Competition
of the ARD MUNICH 1997

The Afflatus Quintet performs regularly in the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Cycle, as well as in many important venues throughout the Czech Republic. In October of 1996, the group made its international debut at one of the five evenings of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Anniversary Chamber Music Series. The Afflatus Quintet was invited to take part in this series along with the leading European wind ensembles, such as the quintets of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics. Their performance at this event, along with other concerts given in Germany, received high praise from the critics.

The Afflatus Quintet had its greatest success in September 1997 in the world-known prestigious International Music Competition of the ARD MUNICH where it obtained the 1st prize.

In 1998 the quintet was awarded the "Classic Award 97" for their extraordinary interpretive contribution, and particularly for their interpretation of 20 century music. In the same year, Afflatus Quintet received accolades as the best group of the season from the Czech Chamber Music Association. At the "Mlade podium - Young Stage" (1998) festival in Karlovy Vary, they received the main award for the best performance of the festival.

In November 1998, Afflatus Quintet represented the Czech chamber music scene on the prestigious EUROPALIA show, highlighting Czech culture, in Belgium. The Afflatus Quintet performed some introductory shows in Brussels, Maastricht, and Namur.

In the spring of 1999, the Afflatus Quintet released their debut CD on the Supraphon label, containing music by French composers (Taffanel, Milhaud, Ibert, and Francaix).

In May 1999, the Afflatus Quintet performed in a series of acclaimed concerts in the Louvre, in Paris. The concert was broadcasted by a Parisian radio station. At the Prague spring festival'99 - the group performed a challenging program, which was received with extraordinary public and critical acclaim. In July 1999, the Afflatus Quintet was invited to the third annual Kuhmo Music Festival in Finland, where the group performed a series of their own arrangements and also performed with other international chamber music groups. Together with these performances, members of the quintet also participated as teachers in masters music courses organized as a part of the festival.

Afflatus Quintet performed in a series of chamber concerts organized by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, in Dresden. Among other arrangements, the group performed "Music for wind quintet in five movements" in the presence of the composer, contemporary German composer Bernd Franke. The concert was recorded by MDR.

Repertoire: ...

CD Debut

Significant concerts and performances

• August 1996, Berlin - Podewil, Chamber Music Cycle
• October 1996, Leipzig - Gewandhaus, 100 Year Anniversary of the Gewandhaus Wind Quintet
• January 1997, Prague - Rudolfinum (Suk Hall), Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Cycle
• February 1997, Prague - Lichtenstein Palace (Martinu Hall)
• May 1997, Prague - Hotel Hilton, Release of the Libor Pesek's CD
• September 1997, Munich - Hercules Hall, ARD Price Winners Concert
• January 1998, Prague - Agnes Monastery, Concert for Czech TV
• January 1998, Frankfurt am Main - Old Townhall Chamber Music Cycle
• February 1998, Hamburg - Studio 10, Chamber Concert
• March 1998, Eltville im Rheingau, Chamber Music Cycle, Berlin - Neustrelitz
• April 1998, Prague - Rudolfinum (Suk Hall), Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Cycle
• April 1998, Prague - Rudolfinum (Dvorak Hall), the awarding of the prize from the Czech Association of the Chamber Music
• April 1998, Heilbronn
• May 1998, Pardubice - Town Hall
• August 1998, Merseburg
• August 1998, Karlovy Vary - Young Stage Festival
• November 1998, Brussels, Maastrich, Namur - EUROPALIA Festival
• November 1998, Karlsruhe - Chamber Music Cycle
• May 1999, Paris - Louvre
• May 1999, Augsburg
• May 1999, Prague Castle - Spanish Hall, Prague Spring festival
• June 1999, Kyjov (Czech Republic)- Concentus Moraviae Festival
• July 1999, Leitheim - Leitheimer Schlosskonzerte Cycle
• July 1999, Kuhmo (Finland) - Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival
• July 1999, Prague - Bertramka, Cornissimo Prague Festival
• July 1999, Dresden - Frauenkirche, MDR Musiksommer

Upcoming major shows

• February 2000 - Spain
• May / June 2000 - Japan
• July 2000 - Finland

Press Review

• "The compositions were performed without any interpretation problems."
  (Berliner Morgenpost - 8/96)
  
• "All compositions had been studied in such detail that even the slightest accent was right on the mark."
  (Leipziger Volkszeitung - 10/96)
  
• "...the young ensemble amazes its audience with its musical energy and unity of artistic concept."
  (Slovo - 1/97)
  
• "Clear intonation went hand in hand with brilliant tone quality; dynamics and interplay were thoughtful and disciplined."
  (Hudebni rozhledy - 3/97)
  
• "A Breath of Wind" - portrait of the Afflatus Quintet by Wanda Dobrovska
  (Czech Music 1/1999)
  
• "ie entflammten die Besucher schon wahrend der einzelnen Beitrage zu rhytmischem Klatschen - eine Beifallsü3erung, die im allgemeinen erst zum Ende des Konzertes aufbricht."
  (Wiesbadener Tagblatt, III/98)
  
• "Die Musiker, die erst seit 1995 zusammen konzertieren, gehören schon heute zur Spitze der Bläserformationen."
  (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - 1/98)
  
• "Besonders in dem Quintett D-dur von Antonin Reicha wurden die einheitliche Klangvorstellung und das gemeinsame Empfinden und Atmen aller Mitglieder des Ensembles deutlich. Nie ware sonst eine so selbstverstandliche und fesselnde Homogenitat erreichbar gewesen."
  (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, 8/99)
  
• " ...the audience enthusiastically received the performance of the Afflatus brass quintet, who played brilliantly, especially when performing Janacek's Youth. It was the fifth concert they performed at the Europalia festival."
  (Czech Press Agency 8/99)
  
• "Their performance of Ligeti's and Haas's compositions proved that Afflatus is still committed to providing significant artistic interpretations and that these young musicians are not resting on their laurels following their win in Munich."
  (Pravo, 6/99 - ad/ Prague Spring Festival)
  
• "The evening culminated with a performance of T. Blumar's bombastic Quintet performed by real maestros."
  (Hudebni rozhledy - 7/99, ad/ Prague Spring Festival)

Members of the Afflatus Quintet:

Jana Brozkova - oboe (1968)
Currently a solo oboe player in the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brozkova graduated from the Academy of Music in Prague where she studied under Jiri Mihule. She has received first prize in the European Prize Competition in Zurich, an honorable mention in the 1986 Prague Spring International Competition, and third prize in the same competition in 1991. She is a winner of the Fernand Gillet's International Double Reed Society Competition in Chicago 1997. Since 1997, she has been teaching at HAMU in Prague.

Vojtech Nydl - clarinet (1972)
A member of the Prague Philharmonia, Nydl is currently a student under Stepan Koutnik at the Academy of Music in Prague. In 1994 he studied with Michel Arrignon at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris. Nydl received second prize at the Amati Kraslice Competition in 1988, and he won first prize at the Concertino Praga in 1990 and the Dusek Competition in Prague in 1991. He is also a member of the Czech Clarinet Quintet.

Ondrej Roskovec - bassoon (1970)
Now a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Roskovec graduated from the Academy of Music in Prague as a student of Frantisek Herman and Jiri Seidl. From 1989-1993, he was a member of the Czech Nonet. He won first prize in the Conservatories Competition in Brno in 1987, first prize in the Amati Kraslice Competition in 1988, and second prize in Amati Kraslice in 1990. He was awarded an honorable mention in the Prague Spring International Competition in 1991 and third prize in the same competition in 1996.

Radek Baborak - French horn (1976)
Baborak currently plays solo French horn in the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied under Karel Krenek and later Bedrich Tylsar at the Prague Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1996. From 1994-1996, he was the first French horn player in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Baborak was the top prize winner of Concertino Praga in 1991. He has received third prize in the Prague Spring International Competition in 1992, second prize in Geneva in 1992, and first prize in Markneukirchen in 1993 and Munich in 1993. In 1998, he took over the post of senior lecturer from Herman Baumann in Bologne with the Artur Toscanini Foundation.

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