On May 25 at the Saint Anna’s Church in České Budějovice, the South Czech Philharmonic gave world premiere to a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by a violinist and composer Pavel Fischer (*1965). The piece is dedicated to Helena Jiříkovská who recently replaced Fischer in the position of the Škampa Quartet’s first violinist which he had been … Read more
A new composition by Martin Smolka received its premiere at the international contemporary music festival Acht Brücken. Musik für Köln (Eight Bridges. Music for Cologne) whose sixth year was held between April 30 and May 10. The piece for violin and piano called lay, wail, purr, whirr, smooth, whoop, soothe (and this also is vanity) was … Read more
Pivní oratorium (Beer Oratorio) by a composer and conductor Jan Kučera (*1977) received its premiere during the final concert of the 38th year of the Pardubice Music Spring International Festival, which took place on 10 May at the Suk Hall of the House of Music in Pardubice. Commissioned by the festival whose aim is to annually … Read more
Four orchestral pieces by the composition students of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Jan Ryant Dřízal, Jan Fila, Daniel Chudovský and Soňa Vetchá) were given premiere by the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra on a concert on May 2 at the Academy’s Martinů Hall. The concert was opened by a piece called The Tree of Life by … Read more
Alter-Ego, a new piece by a composer and rector of Janáček’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts, received its world premiere during a ‘Hommage to Czech music’ concert by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra which was at the same time the final concert of the orchestra’s 70th jubilee season. The double concerto for bass clarinet and piano was performed … Read more
Clarinet Concerto in D major by a well-known composer and jazzman Emil Viklický (*1948) received its world premiere during the 38. year of the Pardubice Music Spring international music festival. The sixth of the festival’s thirty concerts took place on 1 April in the Big hall of the Chrudim Museum. The concerto was performed by the chamber … Read more
Pavel Zemek Novák’s new piece Seven Last Words received its world premiere during the 25th year of the Brno-based Easter Festival of Sacred Music. It opened the third of the festival’s concerts named ‘Still Hymn’ which took place on 22 March in the functionalist Church of Saint Augustine and during which the Ensemble Opera Diversa … Read more
Ebony suite by a composer and clarinettist Jiří Hlaváč (*1948) received its world premiere at a concert held by the Czech Chamber Music Society on 16 March at the Suk Hall of Rudolfinum. It was performed by the Five Star Clarinet Quartet, an ensemble comprising Hlaváč as its player and dramaturge as well as three of his … Read more
Ondřej Adámek’s new composition for airmachine, a musical instrument designed and created by the composer himself, and 15 players received its world premiere on 10 March during the Biennale Musiques en Scène contemporary arts festival in Lyon. Adámek has been experimenting with the various modes of the instrument’s construction since 2009. Made up of a wind tunnel … Read more
On 10 March at the Zlín Congress Centre, Bohuslav Martinů Phlharmonic Orchestra premiered a new orchestral piece by Jiří Pavlica, a violinist and composer whose musical language, though oscillating between various genres, is influenced especially by folk music. The Moravian Dances orchestral suite, too, derives from folk dances from different Moravian regions (Haná, Moravian Slovakia, “odzemek” from … Read more
