Summer Festivities of Early Music

Summer Festivities of Early Music (SFEM) is the only festival focussing on historical performing
arts (with special emphasis on music, dance and theatre) organised in Prague. Since its establishment
in 2000 it has become acknowledged for its carefully
prepared, thematic programming and for the high
level of performance guaranteed by some of the
foremost specialists – instrumentalists and ensembles
performing on historical instruments, vocal artists,
conductors, dance and theatre companies – from
various EU countries. Thanks to a thematic,
innovative dramaturgy, modern premieres – not only
for the Czech Republic, but world premieres too –
represent a high percentage of festival projects.
Owing to the presentation of interdisciplinary projects
combining period music with baroque dance and
theatre the initiative is unique among early music
festivals not only in the Czech Republic, but in the
whole of Central Europe.
One of the priorities of the Festival is to link beautiful
architecture with music of corresponding styles. The
unique
historic
surroundings
facilitate
an
unmistakable atmosphere which has its origins in the
performance of music on original instruments, and
the unusual acoustic experiences linked with it.
Concerts and performances – set for example in such
venues as the Prague Castle, Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia, Troja Chateau and lesser known
Prague churches, as well as the fabulous outdoor settings of the
Ledeburg and Vrtba Gardens – have met with great success.
Member of the European Early Music Network (REMA), the
festival is the fruit of a collaboration of many years’ standing
with cultural institutes and trans-national foundations such as
Austrian Culture Forum, Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds,
Institut Français de Prague or Instituto Cervantes Prague, The
Flemish Government as well as with other European festivals.
As such it has significantly contributed to the interconnection of
the European cultural space.
The organiser, Collegium Marianum – Týnska vyšší odborná
škola, is an educational and cultural centre specializing in the
area of historical arts with 20 years of experience in the
organization of cultural projects. Since 2000 the main focus of
the organisation’s cultural activity has been the Summer
Festivities of Early Music.
www.festivalprague.com
www.letnislavnosti.cz
www.collegiummarianum.cz
International Music Festival
Summer Festivities of Early Music
Melantrichova 971/19, Prague 1 - CZ
Flautist Jana Semerádová is a
graduate
of
the
Prague
Conservatoire, the Faculty of
Philosophy, Charles University
(Theory and Practice of Early
Music),
and
the
Royal
Conservatoire in the Hague,
Netherlands (Class of Wilbert
Hazelzet). Jana Semerádová is
artistic
director
of
the
Collegium Marianum Ensemble
and programme director of the
concert cycle “Baroque Soirées”
and the international festival “Summer Festivities of Early Music”. She is engaged in intensive
research both at home and abroad and in the study of baroque gesture, declamation and dance. As a
soloist she has performed on prominent European concert platforms (Tage Alter Musik Regensburg,
Bachfest Leipzig, Mozartfest, Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Pražské jaro,
Europamusicale, Vantaa Barokki, Festival de Sablé, Konzerthaus in Vienna and Berlin, Palau de
Música Barcelona) and regularly appears with the Batzdorfer Hofkapelle, Akademie für Alte Musik
Berlin, Ensemble Cristofori, Ars Antiqua Austria, moderntimes_1800 and Wrocławska Orkiestra
Barokowa. Jana Semerádová teaches transverse flute at Prague’s Charles University (the course of
study “Early Music Practice”) and leads interpretation workshops.
Barbara Maria Willi studied
harpsichord performance in Freiburg
and Strasbourg, then she studied
harpsichord/fortepiano with Kenneth
Gilbert and early music performance
practice with Nikolaus Harnoncourt
at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In
1995 she won the prestigious Prix
d’encouragement-special mention at
the harpsichord competition in
Bruges.
As
a
sought-after
harpsichordist and fortepiano player,
she has collaborated with such
eminent artists as Magdalena Kožená, Sergio Azzolini, Martina Janková, Jana Boušková, Annegret
Siedel, Erich Höbarth, Eric Hoeprich, Thierry Grégoire and Jiří Bárta. In 2005 Barbara Maria Willi
was a member of the jury of the Prague Spring International Harpsichord Competition. She is the
programming director of Concentus Moraviae festival, and together with the Central European Music
Agency she has founded a cycle of early music concerts in Brno with the title Barbara Maria Willi
Presents… In 2002 she earned her doctorate at the School of Liberal Arts of Masaryk University in
Brno for her dissertation On the Style of Thoroughbass in the 17th Century. At present she is an
instructor at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, where she has established and leads
her own harpsichord studio.