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| Who | Martinů Voices Lukáš Vasílek, choirmaster Benda Quartet |
| Where | Moravský Krumlov Chateau |
| Program | Jiří Gemrot (1957) Žalozpěv pro vojenské sekretářky (Lament for Military Secretaries) Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) In Nature’s Realm, op. 63, B126 I. Songs Descended on My Soul (Napadly písně v duši mou) II. Bells Ring at Dusk (Večerní les rozvázal zvonky) III. The Rye Field (Žitné pole) IV. The Silver Birch (Vyběhla bříza běličká) V. With Dance and Song (Dnes do skoku a do písničky!) Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) Five Czech Madrigals, H 321 for mixed choir I. Message after the Dove (Vzkázaní́ po holubince) II. Sore Head (Bolavá́ hlavěnka) III. Geese on the Water (Husičky na vodě) IV. On the Way to My Dear (Cestou k mile) V. Enchantment and Gossips (Čarování a pomluvy) Samuel Barber (1910–1981) Adagio from String Quartet b minor, op. 11. Eric Whitacre (1970) Five Hebrew Love Songs for mixed choirs, string quartet and tambourine I. Temuná (Picture) II. Kalá kallá (A Light-Hearted Little Bride) III. Laróv (Most of the Time) IV. Éyze shéleg! (Oh, What Snow!) V. Rakút (Tenderness) |
Martinů Voices is a chamber choir founded in 2010. Its main artistic goal is the top interpretation of 19th–21st century chamber choral music, but the choir’s programming does not omit from Renaissance, Baroque and Classical music. The ensemble consists of professional singers who work under the direction of choirmaster Lukáš Vasilek.
Martinů Voices are regular guests of the most important Czech music festivals (e.g. Prague Spring, Dvořák’s Prague, Strings of Autumn, St. Wenceslas Music Festival, Lípa Musica). For most of the times, they perform independently, but some projects are also realized in cooperation with resident orchestras and conductors. In 2014 they performed Bohuslav Martinů’s opera What People Live By together with the Czech Philharmonic and its chief conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. This artistic collaboration earned them, among others, a nomination for the prestigious International Opera Award (2015). Martinů Voices’ great successes also include their joint concert with the famous British ensemble Tallis Scholars, which took place in 2016 as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival. A year later, the choir gave the Czech premiere of the cantata Anthracite Fields, written by American Julia Wolfe, in collaboration with the Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble (Strings of Autumn festival).
The Supraphon recordings capture a selection of choral works by Jan Novák and Bohuslav Martinů and attracted an extraordinary response. The album of Bohuslav Martinů’s Madrigals was awarded the Diapason d’Or and received the Editor’s Choice in the prestigious British magazine Gramophone.
Lukáš Vasilek studied conducting and musicology. Since 2007 he has been the Principal Choral Conductor of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. The focus of his artistic work with this ensemble is on staging and performing a cappella repertoire, as well as preparing the choir to perform in major cantata, oratorio and opera projects, in which he collaborates with world-renowned conductors and orchestras (e.g. Berliner Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic and St. Petersburg Philharmonic).
In addition to Prague Philharmonic Choir he is also involved in other artistic activities, especially his collaboration with Martinů Voices, which he founded in 2010. As a conductor or choirmaster, he has been responsible for many Prague Philharmonic Choir recordings made for major international labels (Decca Classics, Supraphon); he has consistently recorded Bohuslav Martinů’s choral works in recent years. His recordings have attracted an extraordinary response abroad and have won awards from prestigious magazines such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and Diapason.
Benda Quartet has ranked among the top chamber ensembles on the Czech music scene and is a frequent guest on international stages since its establishment in 2012. The quartet made its debut in 2014 as part of the subscription series of the 60th anniversary season of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, with which it still cooperates intensively, both through chamber concerts and educational workshops for children and young people. The quartet regularly performs not only in Ostrava but is often invited to chamber music series of leading Czech institutions, such as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Regular cooperation with the Janáček’s May Agency has led the quartet to participate in the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival and other important cultural events in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Other international festival performances include the St. Wenceslas Music Festival, Forfest Kroměříž, Mahler Jihlava, Beethoven’s Hradec and Peter Dvorský’s IMF. Benda Quartet maintains a long-term cooperation with the Ostrava studio of Czech Radio and in 2020 established a regular and very successful studio cooperation with the American company Parma Recordings, which has already produced several CD titles released by Navona Records. Participation in many chamber projects has led the quartet members to collaborate with important artists, for example with the Vogler Quartet, Kelemen Quartet, Václav Hudeček, Jiří Vodička, Karel Dohnal, Vilém Veverka, Marek Kozák, etc. Benda Quartet is the winner of the Moravian-Silesian Cultural Award Jantar for 2019.
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