Life is like a colourful carnival, a fantastic journey, and mankind finally embraces the entire universe. Members of three generations of Czech composers constitute three milestones on the journey to Czech modernism: from the great classicist Antonín Dvořák to his son-in-law, the symbolist Josef Suk, and on to his friend, the fiery dramatist Leoš Janáček. Dvořák wrote his three concert overtures as a depiction of human life. Among them, Carnival Overture is less a depiction of unbridled merrymaking than of the unpredictability of fate and of a varied succession of events. In his Fantasy, Suk freed himself from classical models and set out on the path towards his great, emotionally vibrant symphonic compositions. Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass was one of his last major works, and its premiere at the functionalist pavilion in Brno seemingly linked it to youthful Czechoslovakia’s distant future.

This concert is a major part of our celebrations of the current Year of Czech Music. Other than Bedřich Smetana and Bohuslav Martinů, who will be given space in other concerts at this year’s festival, the programme includes works by those Czech composers who are most famous around the world and whose works have become a permanent part of many orchestras’ repertoires. To that we add a stellar lineup of performers with conductor Jakub Hrůša, violinist Julia Fischer, the Czech Philharmonic, and the Prague Philharmonic Choir along with Corinne Winters, Bella Adamova, Davit Butt Philip, Brindley Sherratt as the vocal protagonists in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. This tribute to Czech musical heritage is eagerly anticipated.

Gramophone’s 2024 ‘Orchestra of the Year’, the Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert – an all-Dvořák programme conducted by the composer himself – in the famed Rudolfinum Hall on 4 January 1896. The Orchestra is acknowledged for its definitive interpretations of Czech composers and recognised for its special relationship with the music of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler, who conducted the world première of his Symphony No. 7 with the Orchestra in 1908. It is currently recording the complete cycle of Mahler symphonies with Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov for Pentatone.

The Czech Philharmonic’s extraordinary and proud history reflects both its location at the very heart of Europe and the Czech Republic’s turbulent political history, for which Smetana’s Má vlast has become a potent symbol. 2024 was the Year of Czech Music, a major celebration launched on the bicentenary of Smetana’s birth and held across the Czech Republic every ten years. The Czech Philharmonic marked Smetana’s bicentenary with a series of concerts at the Smetana Litomyšl Festival, including a rare concert performance of his opera Libuše, conducted by Principal Guest Conductor Jakub Hrůša.

The contribution of the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov to the Year of Czech Music was the Dvořák Festival, a combined performance of three overtures, instrumental concerts, and the last three symphonies of Antonín Dvořák, both in Prague and on tour in South Korea, Japan, Spain, Austria, Germany, Belgium, and France. The highlight of the Year of Czech Music performed by Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic was a series of three concerts in New York's Carnegie Hall.

Alongside the Czech Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra, Orchestral Academy, and Jiří Bělohlávek Prize for young musicians, a comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools, bringing students of all ages to the Rudolfinum – some travelling as long as four hours – to hear concerts and participate in workshops. An inspirational music and song programme led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romani communities within the Czech Republic and Slovakia has helped many socially excluded families to find a voice.

An early champion of the music of Martinů and Janáček, the works of Czech composers – both established and new – remain the lifeblood of the Orchestra. Instigated by Semyon Bychkov at the start of his tenure, nine Czech composers and five international composers – Detlev Glanert, Julian Anderson, Thomas Larcher, Bryce Dessner, and Thierry Escaich – were commissioned to write for the Orchestra.

source: Česká filharmonie

Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of both the Czech Philharmonic and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. From autumn 2025, he will take up the post of Music Director at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden in London.

He frequently appears as a guest conductor with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Berlin, Vienna, Munich and New York Philharmonics, the Bavarian Radio, NHK, Chicago and Boston Symphonies, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Lucerne Festival, Royal Concertgebouw, Mahler Chamber and the Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre de Paris, and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich.

He has led opera productions for the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, Opéra National de Paris, Zurich Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival. In 2022, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival with a new production of Káťa Kabanová.

For his recordings with the Bamberg Symphony, he received an ICMA for Hans Rott’s 1st Symphony in 2023, previously an ICMA for Bruckner’s 4th Symphony, as well as the Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for Mahler's 4th Symphony, as well as a BBC Music Magazine Award for Dvořák and Martinů Piano Concertos with Ivo Kahánek. In addition, he has received Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine Award nominations for Martinů Violin Concertos with Frank Peter Zimmermann.

Hrůša studied at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts, where his teachers included Jiří Bělohlávek. He is President of the International Martinů Circle and The Dvořák Society. He was the inaugural recipient of the Sir Charles Mackerras Prize, and in 2020 was awarded the Antonín Dvořák Prize by the Czech Republic’s Academy of Classical Music, and – with the Bamberg Symphony – the Bavarian State Prize for Music. In 2023, Jakub Hrůša was awarded Honorary Membership to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

source: Bamberger Symphoniker

One of the world's leading violinists, Julia Fischer is a versatile musician also known for her extraordinary abilities as a concert pianist, a chamber musician, and a music teacher. Born in Munich to German-Slovakian parents, Julia received her first violin lessons at the age of three, and her first piano lessons shortly after from her mother, Viera Fischer. At the age of nine, she started studying with the renowned violin professor Ana Chumachenco, later becoming her successor at the University of Munich. The first prize at the international Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 1995 was one of the milestones in her early career and she has since performed with top orchestras worldwide, frequently collaborating with renowned conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Christian Thielemann, Alan Gilbert, Jakub Hrůša, Vladimir Jurowski, Juanjo Mena, Riccardo Muti, Vasily Petrenko, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Thomas Søndergård, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Franz Welser-Möst.

During the 2023-24 season, Julia Fischer is embarking on several tours throughout Europe including two with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, which she play-directs, the Royal Philharmonic with Vasily Petrenko, a recital tour with Yulianna Avdeeva, as well as with the Julia Fischer Quartet. She holds a residency in Prague, performing chamber music with members of the Czech Philharmonic in addition to a recital and a quartet program. Julia Fischer has also been selected as the soloist for the televised 2023 Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In February, she is returning to the San Fransisco Symphony, and in March, she will perform the world premiere of Daniel Kidane’s Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic and Edward Gardner.

Julia Fischer’s 2022-23 season highlights included her Residency with the Staatskapelle Dresden, returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Riccardo Muti, and the Orchestre National de France with Cristian Măcelaru in addition to chamber music concerts at the Schubertiade and a celebration of twenty years of collaborating with cellist Daniel Müller-Schott.

Julia Fischer’s musical accomplishments extend far beyond her career as a violin virtuoso. She is an enthusiastic chamber musician on both violin and piano, a dedicated teacher, orchestra founder, and artistic director. In 2010, she founded the Julia Fischer Quartet with violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, violist Nils Mönkemeyer, and cellist Benjamin Nyffenegger and continues to tour extensively in this formation. Her concert at the Alte Oper Frankfurt in 2010 marked her debut as a pianist: She performed the Grieg Piano Concerto in the second half, having played Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in the first half. The performance is available on a Decca-released DVD. Teaching is another integral part of her musical life as she continues to nurture and guide young talent and often performs alongside her students. She regularly gives masterclasses at Musikferien at Lake Starnberg (Starnberger See). In 2019, she founded a children’s orchestra, the Kindersinfoniker, teaming up with Johannes X. Schachtner and pianist Henri Bonamy in her hometown of Munich. Beginning in 2024, Julia Fischer will serve as Artistic Director of the Boswil Summer festival in Switzerland together with her fellow quartet musician Benjamin Nyffenegger.

Over the course of her artistic career, Julia Fischer has released numerous critically acclaimed and awarded CD and DVD recordings, first under the Pentatone label and later under Decca. In 2017, she decided to break away from the established recording industry practices and launched her own music platform, the JF CLUB, which offers exclusive audio and video footage, previews of her new recordings as well as personal insight into her music and her work to her fans and subscribers directly. César Franck’s Sonata in A major, Karol Szymanowski’s Sonata in D minor and Beethoven’s String Trio in C Minor are all available exclusively on her own music platform, the JF CLUB. In August 2021, Julia Fischer released a limited vinyl recording of Eugène Ysaye's Sonatas as an exclusive JF CLUB edition in collaboration with Hänssler Classic.

Julia Fischer holds numerous awards including the Federal Cross of Merit, the Gramophone Award, the German Culture Prize, and the Cultural Honorary Prize of the City of Munich. She plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1742) as well as an instrument made by Philipp Augustin (2018).

source: IMG Artists

The Prague Philharmonic Choir (PPC) was founded in 1935 by choirmaster and teacher Jan Kühn. Now in its 91st season, it is the oldest professional choir in the Czech Republic. The choir is celebrated beyond Czech borders, especially for its interpretations of oratorios and cantatas. Lukáš Vasilek has served as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director since 2007, joined by Lukáš Kozubík as the choir’s Second Choirmaster.

Under Lukáš Vasilek’s leadership, the Prague Philharmonic Choir has established a reputation as a highly esteemed performing partner of leading international orchestras. At home, the ensemble collaborates regularly with the Czech Philharmonic and, for its own choral concerts, with the Prague Philharmonia. Internationally, the PPC has worked with ensembles such as the Berlin and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras, Wiener Symphoniker, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

The PPC has also gained extensive experience working with the world’s top conductors, including Semyon Bychkov, Jakub Hrůša, and Sir Simon Rattle. The choir regularly appears at the Czech Republic’s most renowned festivals, such as Smetana’s Litomyšl, Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague, and Days of Bohuslav Martinů. Since 2010, the PPC has served as Choir in Residence at the Bregenzer Festspiele.

In its 91st season, the Prague Philharmonic Choir will embark on further exciting collaborations with world-renowned conductors, including Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano, and Giovanni Antonini.

Alongside its performances, the PPC engages in numerous educational projects. Every season, it presents a cycle of educational concerts for children, catering to both school groups and families. These programs emphasize fun and active engagement with young listeners. The PPC Choral Academy in Honour of Soňa Červená offers singing students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a professional ensemble, participate in large-scale musical projects, and learn from collaborations with leading artists.

The choir’s artistic excellence is further demonstrated through its rich recording archive, which continues to expand each season. The PPC has appeared on releases from PENTATONE, Decca Classics, Sony Classical, and Supraphon. Its recordings have earned numerous international accolades, including awards from Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and the prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’Année. The PPC’s very first recording, made in 1952, featured Dvořák’s oratorio Stabat Mater conducted by Václav Talich. Its most recent release, Stravinsky, Janáček, Bartók: Village Stories, explores the magic of folk songs and traditional rituals in the music of three 20th-century masters.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir is a laureate of the 2018 Classic Prague Award for Best Vocal Concert, Czech Television’s Classical Music of the Year Award, and the 2022 Antonín Dvořák Prize for exceptional artistic achievements and the promotion of Czech music. The album Village Stories received the Choc de Classica award in May 2024.

source: Pražský filharmonický sbor

This season marks Lukáš Vasilek’s 18th year as the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Prague Philharmonic Choir (PPC). Whether conducting a cappella repertoire or large-scale cantatas and oratorios with orchestra, Vasilek brings his deep understanding of choral music to every performance. Under his leadership, the PPC regularly collaborates with leading Czech and international orchestras and conductors.

Vasilek has received particular recognition for his outstanding interpretations of the great choral works of Mahler, Dvořák, and Janáček. Notable highlights include Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, Francis Poulenc’s Stabat Mater, and Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher. He is also known for his adventurous programming, incorporating jazz and spirituals into the PPC’s repertoire.

Lukáš Vasilek studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and musicology at Charles University. He occasionally returns to his orchestral conducting roots, working closely with the Prague Philharmonia on their choral concert cycle in collaboration with the PPC, a partnership now in its fourth year. He has also conducted musicians of the Czech Philharmonic and the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra.

Vasilek’s first experience with choral singing came as a member of the Boni Pueri boys’ choir. He later served as choirmaster of the Foerster Chamber Choir and the Prague National Theatre Choir. In 2022, he was a guest conductor for the French ensemble Accentus. In addition to his work with the PPC, he is the founder and conductor of the vocal ensemble Martinů Voices, established in 2010, focusing on chamber choral music from the 19th to 21st centuries. Until recently, he also taught choral conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts.

Lukáš Vasilek’s choral and orchestral work is featured on numerous recordings for Decca Classics and Supraphon. His recent recordings of Bohuslav Martinů’s choral works have earned international acclaim, winning awards from Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Diapason.

source: Pražský filharmonický sbor

Acclaimed by The New York Times as “an outstanding actress, as well as a singer of extraordinary grace and finesse,” American soprano Corinne Winters has performed over thirty leading roles at major opera houses around the world.

Corinne begins her 23/24 season as a featured soloist with the Sun Symphony Orchestra for the opening of the new Ho Guom opera house in Hanoi, Vietnam, followed by her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Dvořák’s Stabat Mater and a return to the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for Dvořák’s cantata The Spectre’s Bride, both conducted by Jakub Hrůša. For her debut at the Teatro Real, Corinne will reprise the title role in Moniuszko’s Halka in concert, alongside Piotr Beczała. This season also marks her debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in the title role of Rusalka, a role she will debut at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège earlier in the season. Further operatic appearances include returning to two of her signature roles, first Violetta Valéry in one New Year’s Eve performance of La Traviata at Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, followed by Madama Butterfly at Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur and San Diego Opera. Ms. Winters will close her 23/24 season with her debut at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence of the title roles in C.W. Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride. Future seasons include debuts with Dvořák Prague Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Houston Grand Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, and the Metropolitan Opera, among others.

Directly following her triumphant debut as the title role in Barrie Kosky’s new Kát’a Kabanová at the Salzburger Festspiele, Corinne has brought her signature role to the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Janáček Brno International Festival, Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Opéra de Lyon in the 22/23 season. She also returned to Teatro dell’Opera di Roma for her role debut as Blanche de la Force in Emma Dante’s new production of Dialogues des Carmélites, conducted by Michele Mariotti, and debuted with the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in València as both Mimì in La bohème and the title role in Jenůfa. Corinne’s 22/23 season concert engagements included Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder with the Bamberger Symphonikerat the Wiener Musikverein, conducted by Jakub Hrůša, and a gala concert of arias with Andrea Battistoni and the Orchestre de Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège.

Career highlights include the title roles in Madama Butterfly and Kát’a Kabanová with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at Oper Frankfurt, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and the title role in Suor Angelica at La Monnaie /De Munt, Jenůfa at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Moniuszko’s Halka at Theater an der Wien, Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande at Opernhaus Zürich, Rachel in La Juive and Desdemona in Otello at Opera Vlaanderen, Mimì in La bohème at Washington National Opera, and Violetta in La traviata at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opera Australia, Opera Hong Kong, English National Opera, and Seattle Opera.

In concert, Corinne has sung the soprano solo in Verdi’s Requiem on a European tour with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Les nuits d’étéwith the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Bachianas Brasileiras with True Concord. She joined tenor Matthew Polenzani in recital for the George London Foundation, where she was praised by Opera News as “a striking brunette who manages to be simultaneously gamine and seductress, reveal[ing] an arresting, uniquely plum-colored soprano that could pass for mezzo in the middle but explodes with vibrant color on top.” She has also appeared in recital with the New York Festival of Song, Tucson Desert Song Festival, and Vocal Arts DC, showcasing Spanish song repertoire from her debut album, Canción amorosa.

An International Opera Awards nominee, Corinne has won prizes from the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation, Marcello Giordani Foundation (1st prize, Critics Choice Award, Vero Beach Prize), George London Foundation (George London/Leonie Rysanek Award), Sullivan Foundation (Career Grant), Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation (1st Prize), Palm Beach Opera Competition (1st Prize), Gerda Lissner Foundation (2nd Prize), and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (National Semifinalist, 1st place New England Region), and is a recipient of Wolf Trap Opera’s Shouse Career Grant.

Corinne earned a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory and Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude from Towson University before appearing as a resident artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

As a master teacher and career mentor, Corinne enjoys sharing her passion for the craft with organizations such as Opera di Roma’s Fabbrica Young Artist Program, YoungArts Miami, Premiere Opera Foundation, National Student Opera Society UK, The University of Arizona, and her alma maters Towson University and the Peabody Conservatory, as well as her private voice studio.

source: Corinne Winters

With “a voice that apparently can do anything,” blessed with a “warm, sumptuous timbre” (Classica), “different, immediately recognisable, and exceptional” (Aktualne.cz), and whose “interpretation presents a captivating kaleidoscope of vocal expressive possibilities” (Opera Plus), mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova’s artistic commitment on the concert and operatic stage spans a wide range of musical periods, genres, and cultures, from the Baroque to the contemporary, with natural ease. She places particular focus on the art-song repertoire, showcased in deeply and thoughtfully crafted recital programmes.

She has released two critically acclaimed albums with pianist Michael Gees—Blooming (2019) and There is Home (2023)—which explore the concept of searching for and defining the feeling of home through songs by Pavel Haas, Benjamin Britten, Gustav Mahler, and Modest Mussorgsky, freely intertwined and organically interspersed with improvisations on selected poems.

Adamova has won numerous awards at international competitions. In 2022, she won the main prize in the oratorio category at the International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch and, together with pianist Malte Schäfer, was named a laureate in the Lied duo category at the Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz. She has also received the top prize at the International Robert Schumann Competition (2021), the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Prize at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin, the Czech Song Prize at the Emmy Destinn Awards in London, and the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Prize at the International Antonín Dvořák Competition. BBC Music Magazine recently featured her as a rising star.

Recent highlights include her BBC Proms and Dvořákova Praha debuts with Jakub Hrůša and the Czech Philharmonic in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, de Falla’s El amor brujo with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic and Robert Kružík, the alto solos in Mahler's Second and Eighth Symphonies with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) and Tomáš Brauner, Mozart’s Requiem with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alena Hron, and Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été with the Baborák Ensemble. On the opera stage, she appeared at Theater Bielefeld as Mercédès in Carmen and at the National Theatre in Prague as the Third Woodsprite in a new staging of Rusalka (directed by the SKUTR duo/conducted by Tomáš Netopil). She debuted at the Prague Spring Festival in a solo recital and has performed at prestigious venues and festivals such as Heidelberger Frühling, the St. Wenceslas Music Festival (SHF), Music is… Festival, the Czech Center New York, and Villa Senar, the Swiss residence of Sergei Rachmaninov.

Her upcoming engagements include Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder and the orchestral songs of Alma Mahler with Gregor Mayrhofer and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR), Schubert’s Winterreise at the Litomyšl Musical Evenings, a programme of Charles Ives, Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis, and Schumann’s Liederkreis nach Eichendorff, Op. 39, at Zámek Žďár nad Sázavou, and Handel arias with Tomáš Netopil and Ensemble Colloredo.

Bella Adamova was born in Grozny, Chechnya, and grew up in Prague. She completed her musical studies in Cologne, Hanover, and at London's Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, studied improvisation at the Basel Academy of Music, and received additional training at the Royaumont Foundation and the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer academy. She has had the privilege of learning from, among others, Anne Sofie von Otter, Christoph Prégardien, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Jan Philip Schulze, Dawn Upshaw, Christian Immler, and Kateřina Kněžíková.

source: Agentura Makropulos

One of the most exciting tenors Britain has to offer today, David Butt Philip is quickly becoming a firm favorite on the major international stages. An alumnus of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, his recent debuts in roles such as Stolzing Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Wiener Staatsoper; Florestan Fidelio and Prince Rusalka at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos at the Edinburgh International Festival and Bayerische Staatsoper and title roles of Der Zwerg and Lohengrin at Deutsche Oper Berlin, have earned him major critical and public acclaim.

In the 2023-24 season, Butt Philip continues to make eagerly awaited appearances with his debut as Apollo in Richard Strauss Daphne at the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Staatsoper Berlin; a new production of Lohengrin and a return as Stolzing both at Wiener Staatsoper; Don José Carmen and Lohengrin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Florestan Fidelio at the Bayerische Staatsoper and a role debut as Canio Pagliacci at Opera Holland Park. On the concert platform, Butt Philip joins the Staatskapelle Dresden for Mahler Symphony No.8 under the baton of Christian Thielemann; the Berliner Philharmoniker for Dvořák Stabat Mater conducted by Jakub Hrůša and makes his debut at the Bergen International Festival.

Engagements of the previous season included a triple appearance at the Wiener Staatsoper as Laca Jenůfa, Stolzing in Keith Warner’s new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Don Jose Carmen. He also made his company and role debut at the San Francisco Opera as Der Kaiser in David Hockney’s production of Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Sir David Runnicles and returned to the Royal Opera House as the Prince in a new contemporary staging of Rusalka by Natalie Abrahami and Ann Yee. His concert appearances included Stolzing Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for his debut at the Spring Festival in Tokyo and Schönberg’s Gurre- Lieder with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Edward Gardner.

Recent engagements include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Grigory Boris Godunuv and in the American premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet as Laertes; Boris in a new production of Katya Kabanova at the Salzburg Festival and in Glyndebourne; the title role in Brett Dean’s Hamlet, this time in a new production by Matthew Jocelyn in Cologne; his widely acclaimed role debut in the title role of Der Zwerg in a new production by Tobias Kratzer, and as Lohengrin at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos at the Bayerische Staatsoper; the Prince in Christof Loy’s new production of Rusalka, Froh Das Rheingold and Essex in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Gloriana, all at Teatro Real and Erik Der fliegende Holländer at Opéra de Lille; Florestan Fidelio at the National Theatre in Prague and subsequently at the Royal Opera House in Tobias Kratzer’s coveted production, replacing an ailing Jonas Kaufmann. The performance starring Butt Philip and Lise Davidsen was subsequently aired on BBC4 and was met with great acclaim.

British audiences saw him at the Royal Opera House as The Prince Rusalka, Grigoriy Boris Godunov; Narraboth Salome and a Christmas concert conducted by Mark Wigglesworth; at English National Opera as Rodolfo in their Drive & Live production of La bohème, Daniel Kramer’s new production of Britten’s War Requiem, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award, Don Jose Carmen and Pinkerton Madama Butterfly; at Opera Holland Park as Count Vaudemont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Folco in Mascagni’s Isabeau; at Opera North as Laca Jenůfa and Luigi Il Tabarro; and at Glyndebourne as Laertes in the premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Glyndebourne Festival and then as the title role on tour.

Born and brought up in Wells in Somerset, Butt Philip was a chorister at Peterborough Cathedral. He is a graduate of Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and the National Opera Studio and also a Samling Artist, an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and winner of the prestigious John Christie Award in 2011.

source: MWA management

British bass Brindley Sherratt is one of today’s most respected singers. Revered for his extraordinary vocal and stage presence, he is noted all over the world for roles such as Claggart Billy Budd, Gurnemanz Parsifal, Hunding Die Walküre and Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, a role he has performed over a hundred times.

Highlights of his 2023/24 season include a double appearance at the Bayerische Staatsosper as Rocco Fidelio and as Astradamors in a new production of Le Grand Macabre by Krzysztof Warlikowski; Zebul in Oliver Mears’ new production of Jeptha at Royal Opera House; a highly anticipated return to the Metropolitan Opera as Sarastro Die Zauberflöte; and his role debut as Hagen Götterdämmerung with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski. He can also be heard in Act 1 of Die Walküre at theTeatro dell’Opera di Roma conducted by Omer Meir Wellber; Mussorgsky Songs and Dances of Death with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Madrid; and a recital at Wigmore Hall with pianist Julius Drake.

Last season, Sherratt made his Opéra National de Paris debut as Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, a role which he also reprised at the Royal Opera House. He also appeared as the Doktor Wozzeck in new productions at the Royal Opera House and the Festival d’Aix en Provence and Swallow in Stefan Herheim’s acclaimed production of Peter Grimes at Bayerische Staatsoper. On the concert platform, he was seen as Gurnemanz Parsifal with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Edward Gardner; Harapha in Handel Samson at the BBC Proms with the Academy of Ancient Music conducted by Laurence Cummings; Beethoven Missa Solemnis at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock and Sarastro Die Zauberflöte at the Edinburgh International Festival under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev.

Further engagements include a hugely acclaimed debut as Gurnemanz in semi- staged performances of Parsifal with the Orchestra of Opera North conducted by Richard Farnes; Hunding in Richard Jones’ new production of The Valkyrie for the English National Opera; Claggart Billy Budd, Sarastro, Sparafucile Rigoletto, Gremin Eugene Onegin, Fafner in The Ring Cycle, Ramfis Aida , Il Commendatore Don Giovanni and Timur Turandot, all at Royal Opera House; Ochs Der Rosenkavalier for the Glyndebourne Festival and the Welsh National Opera; Marke Tristan und Isolde for the Glyndebourne Festival; Sarastro at the Wiener Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper and for the Dutch National Opera and Glyndebourne Festival; Claggart for the Teatro Réal in Madrid, at the Glyndebourne and Aldeburgh Festivals and at the BBC Proms; Geronte di Ravoir Manon Lescaut for the Metropolitan Opera; Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Doctor Wozzeck at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Arkel Pelléas et Mélisande for the Opernhaus Zurich, Oper Frankfurt and Glyndebourne Festival. His many roles for the English National Opera include Sarastro, Pimen Boris Gudonov and Fiesco Simon Boccanegra. He has also sung Judge Turpin Sweeney Todd at the Opernhaus Zurich; Banco Macbeth for the Opéra de Bordeaux; Pimen for the Opéra de Nice; Balducci Benvenuto Cellini and Hobson Peter Grimes in Salzburg; Rocco in Seville; Pogner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for the Welsh National Opera and Fasolt Das Rheingold and Filippo Don Carlo for Opera North.

Highly in demand on the concert platform, he has appeared at the Bregenz, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg and Three Choirs Festivals and at the BBC Proms. He works regularly with leading orchestras and conductors and recent engagements have included the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House with Pappano; the Philharmonia with Sir Andrew Davis; the Hallé Orchestra with Sir Mark Elder; the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Harding; the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with Bicket; the Monteverdi Choir with Gardiner; the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen with Langrée.

He has recorded the roles of Polyphemus Acis and Galetea (Nimbus); Somnus/Cadmus Semele and Ariodate Serse (Chandos); Ubaldo in Donizetti’s Imelda de Lambertazzi and Goffredo in Bellini’s Il Pirata (Opera Rara); Rocco Fidelio (Glyndebourne Live) as well as Judas in The Apostles with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder; Beethoven Missa Solemnis with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and John Nelson and Haydn Masses and Bach Cantatas with the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Born in Lancashire into a family of strong singers, he initially studied trumpet at the Royal Academy of Music, and is now a Visiting Professor at both the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music.

source: MWA management

Since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle and the Salzburg Festival with Magdalena Kožená, Christian Schmitt has been one of the most sought-after organists internationally. In the 22/23 season he will make his debuts at Carnegie Hall New York under Dennis Russel Davis, with the Dallas Symphony and with the Gothenburg Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach. In 2021/22 he was "Artist in Focus" of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as well as curator of the "International Organ Days" there and inaugurated the new organ under the direction of Paavo Järvi. Since 2014 he has been Principal Organist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, for which he curates the organ series for the Bamberg Concert Hall.

Recent highlights include his debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performances with the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the Japanese premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's "Embrace - Light and Shadow" with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at Suntory Hall, and the release of his most recent recording of Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 7 with conductor Christoph Eschenbach. Christian Schmitt has played the organs of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Maison Symphonique Montréal, and has collaborated with conductors and soloists such as Juliane Banse, Sibylla Rubens, Matthias Goerne, Thomas Hampson, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Matthias Höfs Jakub Hruša, Marek Janowski, Cornelius Meister and Michael Volle.

Christian Schmitt's discography currently includes around 40 recordings. For Deutsche Grammophon, Schmitt recorded two CDs for the project 'Bach 333 - Die neue Gesamtausgabe'. Equally noteworthy is the album 'Prayer' with Magdalena Kožená, released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2014. In 2013, the organist was awarded an ECHO Klassik for his recording of Widor's organ symphonies opp. 42.3 and 69.

A passionate educator, Christian is a guest lecturer at universities worldwide. Since the winter semester of 2021, he has been teaching at Codarts University Rotterdam as Organ Professor and successor to Ben van Oostens. Christian Schmitt studied organ with Daniel Roth (Paris), Leo Krämer (Saarbrücken) and James David Christie (Boston).

He is an expert consultant for organ renovations and new construction of organs in Berlin, Nuremberg, Zurich, Lucerne and Brno. His latest project is a digitally sampled version of the organ of the Philharmonie Essen for concerts with and in orchestra’s. The digital version of the famous organ, created in cooperation with a Dutch acoustics company, is transportable and easily adaptable to hall size and needs. Christian Schmitt has been a member of numerous international music competition juries and is involved in the music education project Rhapsody in School.

source: Dorn Music

The Rudolfinum is one of the most important Neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic. In its conception as a multi-purpose cultural centre it was quite unique in Europe at the time of its construction. Based on a joint design by two outstanding Czech architects, Josef Zítek and Josef Schultz, a magnificent building was erected serving for concerts, as a gallery, and as a museum. The grand opening on 7 February 1885 was attended by Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in whose honour the structure was named. In 1896 the very first concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra took place in the Rudolfinum's main concert hall, under the baton of the composer Antonín Dvořák whose name was later bestowed on the hall.