A part of the concert called “garden” held by the Konvergence composers’ association on October 31 at the already traditional venue of the church of st. Lawrence in the Lesser Town, Prague, was a world premiere of Landscape: HypnoticPulsation, a piece by composer one of Konvergence’s co-founders Tomáš Pálka. It was performed by Kalabis Quintet, a young successful ensemble composed … 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
BERG Orchestra’s last concert so far took place on October 16, for the first time at Továrna, a former industrial building turned into an arts centre in Holešovice, Prague. A part of the programme was a world premiere of a new piece by composer Matouš Hejl (*1989). Kaleidoscope was written in 2015 as Hejl’s graduation piece, yet with plans of BERG … Read more
The BERG orchestra gave world premiere to a new piece by one of the most successful Czech composers of the young generation, Jan Ryant Dřízal. Lekce Váchal for countertenor and orchestra was performed on September 25 at the hall of the Masaryk Dormitory in Dejvice, Prague. The title refers to the composition’s two main sources of inspiration: Lekce Faust, … Read more
Held on September 4 in the Domovina hall in Holešovice, Prague, the first autumn concert by BERG orchestra was named “Surya Namaskar”, which means Sun Salutation. That was because the evening’s dominant theme was yoga, specifically as presented by composer and multi-instrumentalist Tomáš Reindl (*1971) in his premiere piece Yoga for Guru, Orchestra and Yogis. Commissioned by the … 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
The last but one week of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK’s 82nd season carried itself in the spirit of jazz. On June 7 and 8 in the sold-out Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague, the orchestra played a programme consisting of two pieces by George Gershwin (overture to musical Oh, Kay! and the highly popular American … Read more
Petr Wajsar (*1978) is a highly popular author at the Prague Spring festival. This year only, the festival gave world premiere to two of his compositions – besides Harpsycho, the compulsory piece for the 2nd round of the cembalo competition, it was The Rest Is Song, performed on June 1 at The Trade Fair Palace by … 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
As already a couple of times in the past, this year of the Prague Spring festival, too, decided to hold one of its concerts at the National Technical Museum. In collaboration with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, it presented a programme consisting of four pieces by contemporary composers, all of … Read more
