Held on 6th February in Reduta, this year’s first orchestral concert by the Brno-based Ensemble Opera Diversa not only celebrated Miloš Štědroň’s 75th birthday but also served as a unique display of music by contemporary Czech and Moravian composers. Led by Gabriela Tardonová, the ensemble performed 6 pieces for strings, none of which was written more than twenty … Read more
The third of the six evenings of the Beauty of Today, which is aoncert cycle organized by PKF – Prague Philharmonia, was dedicated to the composer, conductor, flautist and music organiser Petr Kotík who recently celebrated his 75th birthday. It took place on 8th February at NoD experimental space in Prague and the audience had a chance to … Read more
At their concert on 6th February in Rudolfinum, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra gave world premiere to the sixth symphony by a Brno-based composer Pavel Zemek Novák (*1957). In this composition written to the text of Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of Creation, the orchestra was joined by the women section of the Prague Philharmonic Choir led by … Read more
On 13th December, St. Clement’s Church in Prague witnessed the final concert of the Music in Contexts concert cycle. Named 2016 AD, the evening aimed not only to commemorate the approaching Christmas, but also to enrich the Christmas’ repertory with new pieces by contemporary authors. These were performed by the Prague Modern orchestra conducted by Jan Rybář. … Read more
On December 7 and 8, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra presented a contemporary oratorio I, Job!, by director Dodo Gombár and composer David Rotter. The spoken title role of a severely tested man, as described in the Old Testament’s Book of Job, was played by the popular actor Bolek Polívka. The part of Job’s younger alter ego was sung by … Read more
Held on 6th December at the Saint Lawrence Church, Prague, this year’s last concert of the composers’ association Konvergence was focused exclusively on Czech contemporary music. Six pieces on the program involved Michal Rataj’s Running For Breath. This piano solo composition was written already in 2013 but it was not until now that it received its world … Read more
Three concerts took place during the fourth week of the Days of Contemporary Music festival. All of them were held at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with fifteen of the twenty pieces presented enjoying their world premiere. The program on November 21 consisted exclusively of chamber music. Pallets and Shading by Jiří Bezděk … Read more
One of the goals the Contempuls festival has been working towards is to support Czech composers and to give them the opportunity to present themselves in an international context. At this year’s last two concerts, premiere was given to three pieces by Czech authors of the young generation – Jakub Rataj, Jan Ryant Dřízal and Jiří Kadeřábek. … Read more
Three concerts of Czech 20th and 21st century music took place during the second and third week of the Days of Contemporary Music festival. All of them were held in the halls of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The festival has since long been focusing on premiering new pieces and the concert on … Read more
MoEns ensemble who specializes exclusively in contemporary music played a concert on November 8 at the Gallery of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. This time, they gave world premieres to four compositions by their members or related artists – Marek Kopelent, Hanuš Bartoň, Michal Nejtek and Kamil Doležal. Comprising of Doležal (clarinet), David Danel (violin), … Read more
