In the 30 years of its existence, the festival has become one of the three largest classical festivals in the Czech Republic, offering 550 concerts and performances, during which more than 13,000 artists from 40 countries performed.
This summer show offers 4 weeks of music from the 15th to the 21st century with international classical / crossover stars in unique places in the city with a real genius loci.
A traditional open-air music festival, which annually brings unforgettable musical evenings in the large castle courtyard to the inhabitants and visitors of Brno. In addition to large symphonic works, it also offers connections with other genres under the summer sky, and thus tries to make classical music accessible to those who might not otherwise get to it.
The civic association MLADÁ PRAHA - INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL has set itself the goal of helping promising young beginning artists in the field of classical music - instrumentalists, singers, chamber ensembles, conductors, but also composers. We want to facilitate the beginnings of their artistic career through concerts at the international level and enable the establishment of friendships with young musicians from all over the world.
Thus was born the idea of founding an international music festival. The initiators, representatives of the International Music Society in Munich (IMGM - Internationale Musikgesellschaft München) decided in 1990 to locate it in Czechoslovakia and chose the name Mladá Praha. In 1992, at the turn of August and September, the first festival took place with the participation of artists of eight nationalities from Peru to Japan. During 1992, a Japanese committee of the Young Prague Festival was also established in Tokyo with the task of selecting the most interesting young musicians from Asia. Thanks to the constant support of Japanese companies permanently operating in the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Culture and several sponsors from the Czech Republic, whose support we greatly appreciate, it has been possible to hold twenty-five years of the festival. In total, over 900 young artists from most European countries, as well as from the USA, Canada, Peru, India, Mexico, China, Korea and Japan performed at more than 350 concerts. In addition to soloists, a number of orchestras and choirs performed here.
The festival has been spotting and highlighting foreign as well as local talent from the jazz and experimental scene since 2008 focusing mainly on contemporary jazz ((the name translates as The Youth Tune Jazz) and its bold crossovers to other genres. As well as concerts, it organises the Jazzfruit competition for young jazz bands, the jazz workshops for children, specialist workshops for musicians and the year-round Jazzbit club series.
The Moravian Autumn Festival is one of the most important cultural events in the Czech Republic. It was established as the Brno International Music Festival in 1966, when the activities of Brno's artistic institutions took on an international dimension again after years of rigid isolation, and the first year of the festival had a very positive response.
In 1987, a multi-day festival of contemporary music called Exposition of New Music was established under the auspices of the MHFB, and since 1995 it has been expanding with the Easter Festival of Sacred Music.
Moravian Autumn invites to Brno orchestras that have passed Europe so far, chamber ensembles belonging to the world's top, soloists decorating world stages. It is not only an interpretive festival that tries to bring the world's top to Brno and confront it with domestic first-class musicians, but also a program one; it's not just "about the stars" (and their competition at all), but also about the content.
We see the great contribution of the Moravian Autumn in the search for new and interesting dramaturgical lines, addressing living authors and the creation of new works. The festival also draws attention to young and talented performers, giving them the opportunity to excel. In 2015, Erkki-Sven Tüür, who, together with Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis, is one of the most important contemporary Estonian composers, was revived.
Moravian Autumn is a member of the Czech Association of Festivals (CAF) and is held once every two years (biennial).
The organizer is the Brno Philharmonic, a contributory organization of the statutory city of Brno.