Summer Festivities of Early Music
Transkript
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.