At the opportunity of releasing his new album by the French Arion Music label, Kryštof Mařatka, Czech composer permanently living in Paris, presented the world premiere of his piece Fables pastorales. The concert took place on 16 April in Salle Cortot, Paris, under the auspices of Czech Republic’s ambassador to France Petr Drulák, and, as a reminder … Read more
It has become a tradition for the Prague Orthodox music festival Archaion Kallos to provide space also for young contemporary composers. This (8th) year, it was Martin Klusák (*1987) and Jan Trojan (*1982). Their pieces, Pnoi for solo clarinet and video projection (Klusák) and Refractions – sound interventions (Trojan), were performed on October 22 at the Gallery of … Read more
The penultimate concert of this year’s MusicOlomouc contemporary music festival belonged to the Phace Ensemble (Austria). On October 9 in the Corpus Christi Chapel of the Art Centre of Palacký University, they performed five pieces including a premiere by Petr Bakla. Last Piece (Mostly stepwise) for clarinet/bass clarinet, violoncello and piano was written on the festival’s commission. The programme … Read more
At the fifth of eight concerts of Podkrkonošské hudební léto festival, world premiere was given to Mosaics, a piece for violin, clarinet and piano by composer Kateřina Horká (*1993). A young student of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague wrote it in autumn 2016, encouraged by the festival’s directress, violinist Ludmila Pavlová. The 15-minute-long piece in 3 movements was … Read more
Held on June 15 in the traditional venue of St Lawrence Church in Prague, the last pre-summer concert of the Konvergence composers’ association was one of a very intimate atmosphere. The chief performers were Simon and Felix Nagl brothers (cello, piano), whom the evening’s dramaturges and founding Konvergence members Tomáš Pálka and Michaela Pálka Plachká, met in … Read more
This year’s topic of The Beauty of Today, the contemporary music concert cycle organized by PKF – Prague Philharmonia, was Dualism in the Czech 21st Century, or, the relationship between a living, active composer and his (former) teacher or mentor. On the last of this season’s concerts, which was held on May 30 at the Experimental Space NoD, … Read more
Composer Michal Rataj was one of the guests of Polish contemporary electroacoustic music festival Nowa Muzyka w Starym Ratuszu. Three of his works were presented at a concert on 8th December at the Old Town Hall in Gdańsk. The first piece on the program was Winter Shadowy. This composition, which made it to the finals of the … 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 by the … 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 string … 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
