The Janáček Brno 2026 festival enters its 10th anniversary year with an extremely ambitious programme. Its centrepiece is a complete presentation of Leoš Janáček's operatic works - from his early compositions to his masterpieces. Such a comprehensive showcase of the composer’s legacy is unique on a global scale and underlines the festival’s singular status among international music events. The jubilee edition bears the motto "Roots", reflecting the sources of Janáček’s inspiration – folk and sacred music – their reach into contemporary creation, and a dialogue with works by other composers.
The festival’s biggest stars include Corinne Winters, Kateřina Kněžíková, Adam Plachetka, Bella Adamova, Ivo Kahánek and many other top-flight artistes. After many years, the Czech Philharmonic will appear in Brno (for the first time within the Janáček Brno festival programme), the Bamberg Symphony (Bamberger Symphoniker) returns, and for the first time the festival welcomes the Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper) with Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski.
As part of the festival, the National Theatre Brno (NdB) will present complete stagings of all Janáček’s operas as prepared by the NdB Janáček Opera ensemble from 2014 to the present. Directors Robert Carsen, David Radok, Jiří Heřman and Martin Glaser were involved in their creation. World-famous orchestras and leading conductors are invited to join the Brno productions: Jakub Hrůša, Tomáš Hanus, Tomáš Netopil, Marko Ivanović and the new Chief Conductor of the Janáček Opera NdB, Robert Kružík.
The festival will also include two unique site-specific premières of Janáček's operas - The Beginning of a Romance (directed by Marek Řihák, Brno University of Technology Rector's Hall) and Šárka (directed by Jiří Heřman, Besední dům). In this case it will be the 1888 concert version, featuring star pianist Julius Drake and one of today’s finest tenors, Nicky Spence, in the title role of Ctirad.
The festival will also present an exceptional dance piece by NdB3 Ballet, originally part of the Czech Pavilion programme at Expo 2025 in Japan. As always, the young generation will be on show – students of the JAMU Faculty of Music and the Brno Conservatory – together with the winner of the 31st Leoš Janáček International Competition in the string quartet category, the Swiss Arola Quartet. The festival will once again bring music to the remarkable setting of Brno’s villas and, newly, to the water tanks on Žlutý kopec, where two unique productions will highlight the venue’s unique genius loci.
For those keen to get a head start, there are plenty of preview events offering a taste of the programme before the festival itself begins. Advance ticket sales for the most extensive Janáček Brno to date – encompassing 56 productions for more than 30,000 audience members – are now open. The complete programme and further information can be found at janacek-brno.cz. Details on the accompanying programme and news will be updated on an ongoing basis.
The 9th edition of Janáček Brno has been nominated for the prestigious 2025 International Opera Awards in the Festival of the Year category. The winners will be announced on 13 November 2025 in Athens at the Greek National Opera – Stavros Niarchos Hall.
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