News

International Dance Day has been  celebrated every year around the world since 1982. In Brno, dancers will celebrate it at the piazzetta in front of the Janáček Theatre. The programme includes dance classes, performances by the NdB Ballet and the Brno Dance Conservatory.  more

Cotatcha Orchestra is giving a concert to mark the 120th anniversary of birth of the big band giant Duke Ellington. The orchestra will appear in Brno's HaDivadlo together with the Swiss vocalist Géraldine Schnyder.  more

Folklore ensemble Javorník Brno will perform together with guest ensemble of songs and dances Jiskra from Pilsen. Part of the evening in the Dělnický dům will also be a party with dulcimer music.  more

In his lecture, Miloš Štědroň will present Ludvík Kundera as Janáček's assistant and expert in his work. Milan Kundera will be shown as the author of the respected book Můj Janáček [My Janáček]. The lecture will take place in the Moravian Regional Library. The event is an accompanying programme to an exhibition about the translations of Milan Kundera’s works.  more

Representatives of the Czech crossover scene The.Switch will celebrate 15 years since the release of their album named Beautiful with a concert at the Fléda music club. The concert, which is part of a tour called BTFL15YRS, will also feature guest appearances of Sunset Trail and Denoi from Brno.  more

Vojenský umělecký soubor Ondráš (the Ondráš Military Art Ensemble) is preparing a new project in which both professional parts of the ensemble will perform and together celebrate the 65th anniversary of their founding. Krajinou času (Through the Landscape of Time) offers a mosaic of folk dance and music from selected regions of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Slovakia.  more

The festival of French and francophone culture this year celebrates its 25th birthday. During the month of April Bonjour Brno will be presenting Brno with artistic productions directly from France and events inspired by the culture of the francophone countries. The programme includes concerts, films, plays, exhibitions, literary events, gastronomy and street art. There will also be the traditional Le Rendez-vous, a pétanque tournament and a children’s programme. This year’s motto is Tradition in the Move.  more

After two years the Symposium: Art | Music | Management is returning to Brno’s JAMU (Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts). Three days in April will be given over to debate, new ideas and exchanging of contacts between professionals, teachers and students. The 7th Symposium promises more than thirty lecturers from four countries and an accompanying programme. This time the symposium focuses on the education of artistic, and primarily music managers.  more

The dancer Cristina Aguilera from Granada will be heading to Brno. Aside from a concert in Besední dům there will also be an opportunity to attend her two days of dance courses. The courses are divided into three levels.  more

Clarinettist and Grammy holder Oran Etkin will perform as part of the Mladí ladí jazz [Young  People Tune Jazz] in the Stará Pekárna music club in Brno. The guests of the concert will be Peter Korman, Tibor Žida, Michael Grombiřík, Dušan Čermák and Roman Horváth. For the next day, Etkin is preparing a music workshop for children, which will take place using his own entertaining teaching method called Timbalooloo.  more

The final concert of this year’s instalment of the Barbara Maria Willi Presents series offered a unique project that on 4 December brought together two ensembles in the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy:  Cappella Pratensis and Ramillete de Tonos. They showed the audience the many different ways in which one can work with the polyphonic repertoire of the 15th and 16th centuries. The programme intertwined sacred and secular music, and purely vocal, vocal-instrumental and purely instrumental pieces.  more

The rediscovery and digitisation of the Brno polyphonic manuscripts BAM 1 and BAM 2 has opened a new chapter in the study and performance of Renaissance music. At the crossroads of historical research, modern technology, and artistic interpretation stands Past Forward, a cross-border project connecting institutions from the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic. At its artistic core are two musicians whose approaches complement each other: Tim Braithwaite, artistic director of Cappella Pratensis, and Kateřina Maňáková, lutenist, teacher of early plucked instruments at Janáček Academy of Performing Arts and guarantor of the entire initiative. In this conversation, they discuss working with previously overlooked sources, the challenges of historically informed performance, the promises of international collaboration, and their vision for the future of early-music interpretation.  more

The concert by Filharmonie Brno under Dennis Russell Davies on Thursday 6 November in Besední dům offered a fascinating programme combining the work of two contemporary composers from the former Soviet Union. The performers included Armenian baritone Aksel Daveyan, violist Julian Veverica, percussionist Lukáš Krejčí, and the Austrian Hard-Chor Linz choir under choirmaster Alexander Koller.  more

Brno-born pianist and Director General of the Czech Philharmonic, David Mareček, is appearing together with cellist Václav Petr on a concert tour in South Korea. During the first week of November, the duo is presenting Czech repertoire on prestigious stages, including the Seogwipo Arts Center, Yongin Poeun Art Hall and Daegu Concert House.  more

Moravian Autumn, organised by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, has long been one of the most important musical events of the autumn season. For the third time it also included the student project New World of Moravian Autumn – living proof that the connection between academia and professional practice can yield stimulating and deeply artistic results. This project, which originated at JAMU as an experiment within the course in practical dramaturgy, has evolved into a fully-fledged and respected part of the festival programme over the past few years.  more