Useful Contacts

Copy link

The Antonín Dvořák Music Festival boasts a long tradition, during which its organizers managed to establish it among high-level cultural events and, in the venues, of paramount importance. It was established in 1969 on the initiative of the Antonín Dvořák Society (then chaired by Dr. Karel Mikys) and the District Cultural Center in Příbram, to which the Ministry of Culture promised financial support at the time. And the support was by no means small, because at that time it made it possible to invite such orchestras as the Czech Philharmonic, the FOK Symphony Orchestra of the Capital City of Prague, the PKO, the Slovak Philharmonic or the Film Symphony Orchestra. During these years, however, the festival also included a number of excellent ensembles from abroad. The people of Příbram were also able to witness top performances such as the Leningrad Philharmonic and the Moscow State Philharmonic, and last but not least, the Warsaw State Philharmonic or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London with conductors Mark Emler, Charles Groves, Arvid Jansons and Dimitri Kitajen. After 1989, however, similarly as in the whole cultural sphere, significant organizational changes took place here. Since 1990, the organization Příbram Theater has taken over its organization, where (perhaps) due to the lack of financial resources, the festival stuck to three to five concerts, mostly only chamber music.

Copy link

The Kutná Hora International Music Festival is one of the most important chamber music festivals in the Czech Republic. The creator of the dramaturgy and the selection of artists is the artistic director - cellist Jiří Bárta.

Unfortunately, even this year 2021 is associated with covid uncertainty. Last year we managed to hold the festival, albeit on a shifted date, with drapes and all hygienic measures. We all hope and believe in the improvement of the situation, and that is why we are preparing another, already the 14th year of the Kutná Hora festival.

MFKH has become an inseparable part of cultural events in the city with high attendance from all over the Czech Republic and abroad. Since we could not invite foreign artists last year, we decided to move the performance of all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in Konstantin Lifschitz's masterful interpretation to this year. This very significant work of art will be divided into 8 evenings. This increases the total number of chamber music concerts to 16 concerts. We believe that not only for Kutná Hora, this festival will be something truly exceptional this year. In addition to this important project, compositions of classical chamber literature by world-famous authors (Haydn, Mozart, Vivaldi, etc.) will be heard, as well as contemporary and rarely mentioned authors (Tartini, Barber, Kabeláč, Klusák, Górecki, etc.).

Jiří Bárta traditionally connects chamber music concerts and complements them with projects at the crossroads of genres. He included Bach's cantata Ich habe genug (I already have enough of everything) in the program of the 14th Kutná Hora festival for solo bass, oboe and strings connected with an epic poem by Arnošt Lustig performed by Vilma Cibulková, Jiří Lábus and Vilém Udatný entitled "Cantata - Dance of the Mad". The theme of the musical-lyrical band is death as liberation from a world permeated with misery and despair and is an indictment of the most horrific crime in human history.

Copy link

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.

Copy link

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.

Copy link