Colours of Ostrava is an international, multi-genre music festival organised annually in Ostrava since 2002. In 2012, the festival was moved to the entrancing surroundings of Dolní Vítkovice – an area that used to belong to metallurgical works, mines and ironworks. We are a free and independent festival for free and independent artists and festivalgoers. We don’t subscribe to any genre and are only open to showcasing sensitive, dynamic as well as uplifting projects with a similar philosophy to our own.
The Karel Ditters International Music Festival from Dittersdorf is a festival that has been held every year since 1993, mainly in the town of Javorník, partly in the town of Jeseník and its surroundings. During this time, it has become an integral part of the cultural autumn of the entire Jesenice region. It is also one of the most significant and significant projects implemented within the Olomouc Region, and its existence thus clearly proves that lively cultural activity does not escape even its northernmost region. Its annual implementation is provided by the Karel Ditters Association of Dittersdorf.
And so every autumn is traditionally carried in the spirit of Baroque sophistication, with which Karel Ditters is undoubtedly closely connected and whose work the entire festival is actually primarily dedicated to. The central idea of the whole festival is an effort to present classical music at the highest professional level to all residents of our border region, as well as to professional audiences. However, Ditters' name is not just a kind of "moral-musical regional authority" in the name of the festival, on the contrary, every year of the festival the compositions of this author appear in the repertoire of many musical ensembles, which is also one of the festival's conditions. Another is the effort to open the festival stage to young and beginning performers, often the winners of the Prague Spring or other competitions. Last but not least, it is also an effort to invite, as, after all, in the name of the festival, musicians from abroad, or at least musical ensembles with the representation of foreign performers, to the festival days.
Angličtina
Festival Klášterní hudební slavnosti je mezinárodní hudební festival s tradicí, který svou vysokou dramaturgickou a uměleckou úrovní zaujímá místo jednoho z nejvýznamnějších a nejzajímavějších hudebních festivalů současnosti, na Moravě se již tímto superlativem může v daném období pochlubit beze zbytku. Jak již z názvu vyplývá, koncertuje festival především v sakrálních skladbách nebo v prostředí, která jsou s církevními institucemi historicky nějakým způsobem spojena (kostely, bývalý nebo i současný majetek církví apod.), ale nevyhýbáme se i občasnému vybočení, ať už z důvodu kapacity, organizace nebo podmínek.
O věhlasu akce, ale také o zájmu posluchačů svědčí i fakt, že se návštěvnická úroveň rok co rok zvyšuje. Festival je nejenom pevnou součástí kulturního života Olomouckého kraje (kde se koná naprostá většina koncertů) s přesahem do krajů Moravskoslezského a Pardubického, ale stává se důležitým hybatelem festivalové turistiky. Za koncerty posluchači cestují z různých koutů a podporují tím také turistický průmysl. Návštěvníkům koncertů nabízí koncerty českých i zahraničních umělců mimořádné umělecké úrovně. Za dobu své existence navštívilo koncerty přes 33 tisíc posluchačů, kteří se mohou těšit na dramaturgicky pestrou a vyváženou skladbu koncertů, ať již formou komorních recitálů či koncertů komorních i větších těles nebo pěveckých sborů. Na festivalu se představují zásadní díla symfonické, operní, oratorní ale i komorní hudby.
The Klášterní hudební slavnosti festival is an international music festival with a tradition, which with its high dramaturgical and artistic level occupies the place of one of the most important and interesting music festivals of today, in Moravia it can already boast of this superlative in the given period. As the name implies, the festival performs mainly in sacred compositions or in environments that are historically connected with church institutions in some way (churches, former or current property of churches, etc.), but we do not avoid occasional deviations, either because of capacity , organization or conditions.
The fame of the event, but also the interest of the audience is evidenced by the fact that the visitor level is increasing year by year. The festival is not only an integral part of the cultural life of the Olomouc region (where the vast majority of concerts take place) with an overlap to the Moravian-Silesian and Pardubice regions, but it is also becoming an important driver of festival tourism. During the concerts, the listeners travel from different corners and thus also support the tourism industry. It offers concertgoers concerts of Czech and foreign artists of extraordinary artistic level. During its existence, over 33,000 listeners have attended concerts, who can look forward to a dramaturgically varied and balanced composition of concerts, whether in the form of chamber recitals or concerts of chamber and larger ensembles or choirs. The festival presents major works of symphonic, opera, oratorio and chamber music.
The Olomouc International Organ Festival was established in 1969 and takes place every year in September in the Church of St. Mořice.
The founder of the festival was prof. Antonín Schindler (1925 - 2010), who worked as an organist in the church of St. Mořice. Here he had at his disposal a unique instrument by Michael Engler from 1745, which was, however, considerably dilapidated. On the initiative of prof. Schindler's organ was generally repaired and expanded, and it was this reconstruction that prompted the establishment of an organ festival with an international level.
The Olomouc International Organ Festival has become a household name in the organ world, and its quality and level are evidenced by a number of the world's top organists who have performed at the festival. The festival is organized by the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc.
The Pardubice Music Spring International Festival has been an important cultural event in the East Bohemian region since 1978. Since 2013, the festival has been organized by Barocco semper giovane, o.p.s. The festival offers music of all stylistic periods, the genre is mainly focused on classical music. Approximately twenty concerts take place every year from the beginning of March to the middle of May in concert halls and monuments of the city of Pardubice and other cities in the region. The festival presents important domestic and foreign artists, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras, opera and ballet ensembles.
Since 2013, they have performed at the Pardubice Music Spring, for example, the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Prague FOK, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, PKF - Prague Philharmonia, Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, Collegium 1704, Ensemble Inégal and Barocco semper giovane with conductors Heiko Mathias Förster (Germany), Shalev Ad-El (Israel), Petr Altrichter, Václav Luks , Adam Viktora, Tomáš Brauner, Jan Kučera, Marko Ivanović, Marek Šedivý, opera ensemble of the FX Šalda Theater Liberec, ballet ensembles of the Slovak National Theater and Moravian Theater Olomouc, Wihan Quartet, Herold Quartet, GUITAR4MATION - Guitar Quartet (Austria), Five Star Clarinet Quartet, Ciganski diabli (Slovakia), Ondřej Havelka and his Melody Makers, Prague Cello Quartet, Guarneri trio, Smetana trio, violinists Giuliano Carmignola (Italy), Václav Hudeček, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Jiří Vodička, Leoš Čepický and Pavel Šporcl , cellists Jiří Bárta and Tomáš Jamník, pianists Ivo Kahánek, Piers Lane (Great Britain), Igor Ardašev, Adam Skoumal, Jitka Čechová, Nozomi Nakagiri and Yuka Beppu (Japan) , harpsichordists and organists Stéphane Bécha (France), Shalev Ad-El (Israel), Jaroslav Tůma, Aleš Bárta, Pavel Svoboda, further eg flutist Yoshimi Oshima (Japan), clarinetist Ludmila Peterková, trumpeter Oliver Lakota (Germany), tenor Štefan Margita and Petr Nekoranec and many other artists.
The Autumn Festival of Sacred Music was founded in 1994 and over the twenty-six years of its existence has become a major cultural event in Olomouc. Under the auspices of the archbishop of Olomouc and Moravian metropolitan Msgre Jan Graubner the Festival is organised by MUSICA VIVA in co-operation with the City of Olomouc, the Regional Authority of the Olomouc Region and the Czech Ministry of Culture. The prominent Czech conductor Stanislav Macura was the Festival’s co-founder and over a period of fifteen years served as its artistic director and conductor significantly influencing the Festival’s unique character. The dramaturgy draws upon the immensely rich heritage of brilliant composers of all nations without ignoring contemporary modern sacred music and observes ecumenical principles. The Festival has been recognised for the outstanding artistic quality of guest soloists and internationally renowned quality of vocal and instrumental ensembles. Radio recordings were made from the Festival concerts by Czech Radio, Radio Niederoesterreich (ORF), Slovak Radio and Polish Radio; concerts were broadcasted across Europe via international radio network of EBU. Twenty-five concerts were recorded and broadcasted in co-operation with Czech Television and TV Noe.
The Smetana’s Litomyšl festival is the second oldest music festival in the Czech Republic, and at the same time it is among the largest regular classical music festivals held in the country.
It mainly features opera performances and concerts, as well as gala concerts, oratorios, cantatas and song evenings; that is forms in which vocal artistry dominates. However symphonic, instrumental and chamber music are not ignored and in the venues here there are ballet performances and church music as well as promenade concerts and other genres. Every year at the festival practically all the top Czech interpreters perform, the three national theatres, all the significant orchestras and choirs and the best conductors, soloists and instrumentalists. And even though there are many significant foreign guests (among others Katia Ricciarelli, Sherill Milnes, Bernd Weikl, Kurt Rydl, Sergej Larin, Neil Shicoff, Torsten Kerl, Sumi Jo, Kate Royal, Marcello Giordani, Thomas Hampson, Oksana Dyka ...) Smetana’s Litomyšl has retained its Czech character and so is truly a national festival.
The centre of the festival is the wonderful Litomyšl State Castle, which in 1999 was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The main events are held mostly in the acoustically excellently prepared second courtyard with its unique retractable roof, as well as in the castle riding hall, in Litomyšl’s churches, in the Smetana Hall and regularly in selected places in the Pardubice region.
A visit to Smetana’s Litomyšl is no ordinary occasion, as aside from the interesting dramaturgy and the brilliant performances it offers a chance to stay away from the metropolitan hustle and bustle in a place with its own unique spirit.
