The Dvořák Prague Youth Philharmonic is a musical ensemble with a basic focus on the education and development of talented young artists. It was created at the suggestion of the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival programming director Jan Simon as one of the new projects of the Academy of Classical Music. The players are students at conservatoires and academies of music up to age 24, and the orchestra’s membership base consists of participants in the Orchestral Academy, which was newly founded at the International Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž under the leadership of the exceptional conductor Tomáš Netopil. Top instrumentalists from the Czech Philharmonic serve as instructors for the individual instrumental sections. The project’s mission is to offer young, talented musicians qualified leadership and active professional experience with rehearsing selected symphonic works and performing them publicly. For the students, their appearance as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival will be a presentation of the results of their efforts, ability, and acquired skills.

Conductor Tomáš Netopil, known around the world as one of the most talented Czech conductors, is now in his tenth (and final) year as the general music director of the Aalto Musiktheater and the Philharmonie Essen. This season, awaiting him on his home stage will be premieres of Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Kampe’s Dogville, and Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. He will also be conducting a new production of Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. As the Czech Philharmonic’s principal guest conductor, he will lead concerts at Prague’s Rudofinum and also at the Smetana Litomyšl and Janáček May festivals, of which he is the president. Other highlights from this season include concerts with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Montpellier, and the opening concert of the festival Concentus Moraviae, where he will be at the helm of the legendary Concentus Musicus Wien.

He is the artistic director at the successful international Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž, which he founded in 2018. Tomáš Netopil also has strong ties to the Dvořák Prague Festival: he was its artist-in-residence for the 2017 season, and in 2020 and 2021, the Dvořák Prague Youth Philharmonic appeared at the festival under his baton in cooperation with his Kroměříž academy.

In addition to productions at the Aalto Musiktheater in Essen, Tomáš Netopil has led many important opera performances at the Saxon State Opera in Dresden (La clemenza di Tito, Rusalka, The Bartered Bride, The Cunning Little Vixen, Halévy’s La Juive, and Busoni’s Doktor Faust), the Vienna State Opera (Idomeneo, Die Freischütz, Leonore), the Dutch National Opera (Jenůfa), and the Grand Théâtre de Genève (The Makropulos Affair).

Tomáš Netopil has appeared on concert stages with many renowned orchestras. Besides the Essen and the Czech Philharmonic, these include the Orchestre National de France, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Zurich’s Tonhalle-Orchester, the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Torino, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

Tomáš Netopil studied violin at the P. J. Vejvanovský Conservatoire in Kroměříž and conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts. He also continued his studies at the Royal Academy in Stockholm under Professor Jorma Panula and at the Aspen Summer Music School in the USA, where he won the top prize of the American Conducting Academy in 2003 and 2004. He returns to Aspen regularly as a guest conductor. In 2002, he won the Sir George Solti Conducting Competition in Frankfurt am Main.

Tomáš Netopil has made highly acclaimed CDs under the Supraphon, OehmsClassics, Radioservis, Dynamics labels.

Source: HarrisonParrott

Born in Tokyo in 1987, Chuhei Iwasaki has emerged as one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation. He studied violin at the Toho Gakuen Conservatory in Tokyo and then, together with composition and conducting, at the Prague Conservatory. Since 2012, he has been actively engaged in conducting, refining his skills through his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Since the 2012/22 season, Chuhei Iwasaki has been the chief conductor of the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting subscription concerts in Pilsen and leading regular tours both in the Czech Republic and abroad. However, he has also led many other renowned orchestras on the concert stage (Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonie Łódź, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, PKF-Prague Philharmonia, Brno Philharmonic, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Štátna filharmónia Košice, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, and others).

Chuhei Iwasaki has also collaborated with theatre orchestras, including the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Pilsen (Rusalka, Idomeneo, Manon), the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava (Swan Lake, Der Freischütz), and he performed the musical Jesus Christ Superstar at the Karlín Musical Theatre in Prague.

He has also produced notable recordings for Czech Radio and CDs. For the ARS Produktion record label, he has recorded CDs featuring works by Akira Ifukube, Leoš Janáček, and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (nominated for the Opus Klassik award). Additionally, his recordings for Czech Radio encompass a wide range of works from different styles and eras. These include, for example, the complete symphonies of J. V. Tomášek, the rarely heard symphonies of Jan Kubelík, Dvořák’s Carnival, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Rodion Ščedrin’s Carmen Suite. He also intensively devotes himself to recordings of compositions by 20th-century composers (Jan Kapr’s Symphonies No. 3 and No. 10) and contemporary composers (Slavomír Hořínka: The Words of the Cross, Daniel Chudovský: Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, Tomáš Ille: Prague Quarters).

Chuhei Iwasaki is also an educator. As a professor of chamber music at the Prague Conservatory, an artistic mentor at the Orchestral Academy at Švihov Castle, and the artistic guarantor of the Harmony Foundation – EU El Sistema, he plays multifaceted roles in music education and development.

source: Pilsen Philharmonic

The Prague Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1935 by choirmaster and teacher Jan Kühn. Entering its 90th season, it is the oldest Czech professional choir. However, the choir has garnered international acclaim as a prominent ensemble as well. Recently, it has received particular recognition for its interpretation of its oratorio and cantata repertoire. Since 2007, the choir has been led by principal choirmaster and artistic director Lukáš Vasilek. Lukáš Kozubík serves as the second choirmaster.

Under the direction of Lukáš Vasilek, the choir has established itself as a highly respected partner of major orchestras. On the domestic scene, it has long collaborated primarily with the Czech Philharmonic and, in choral concerts, with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia. Internationally, its musical partners include the Berlin and Essen Philharmonics, the Vienna Symphony, the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir has gained valuable experience from its work with distinguished conductors, which recently has included Semyon Bychkov, Jakub Hrůša, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Zubin Mehta, and Christoph Eschenbach. It also regularly participates in renowned music festivals such as Smetana’s Litomyšl, Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague and Prague Sounds. In recent years, the choir has played an active role on the international stage, serving as the resident choir for the Bregenzer Festspiele opera festival.

This season, the choir will be presenting three exclusive choral concerts. They were curated with a main focus on demanding and lesser-known choral pieces, such as a cappella or with instrumental accompaniment. Traditionally, it performs at concerts organised by Prague-based orchestras, but has been known to also visit other venues such as Ostrava. Internationally, the choir has performed in cities such as Dresden, Baden-Baden, Hamburg, and Bregenz.

In addition to its regular concert activities, the Prague Philharmonic Choir is engaged in educational projects. For young audiences, it has prepared a series of educational concerts specifically tailored for both schools and families with children. Their programme places strong emphasis on ensuring an enjoyable and actively engaging experience for children. Organised for voice students, the Prague Philharmonic Choir Academy offers a unique platform for young singers to engage in professional ensemble performances, participate in major musical projects, and gain experience working with leading artists.

The choir’s vocal qualities are evidenced, among other things, by its rich archive of recordings, which continues to grow with each season. The discography includes albums released by various record labels such as Pentatone, Decca Classics, Sony Classical, and Supraphon. The Prague Philharmonic Choir has also garnered recognition for its recording activities, receiving awards from the British Gramophone magazine and BBC Music Magazine, as well as the prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’Annèe award. The first gramophone recording, conducted by Václav Talich in 1952, featured Dvořák’s oratorio Stabat Mater; the most recent CDs, released in 2023, includes Mahler’s Symphony No.2 with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov and the choir’s own album entitled Stravinsky, Janáček, Bartók: Village Stories.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir received the 2018 Classic Prague Award for Best Vocal Concert, the Czech Television Classics of the Year Award, and in 2022 the Antonín Dvořák Award for outstanding artistic merit, promotion, and popularisation of Czech music.

source: Prague Philharmonic Choir

Lukáš Vasilek is entering his 16th season as the principal choirmaster and artistic director of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. He applies his intricate talent for choral music in interpreting both a cappella repertoire and large cantata and oratorio works with instrumentation. In conducting the choir, he collaborates with renowned orchestras and conductors, both Czech and international.

With the Prague Philharmonic Choir, he has earned recognition especially for his excellent interpretations of extensive works by Mahler, Dvořák, and Janáček. The highlights of the choral concerts include Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem and Francis Poulenc’s Stabat Mater. His daring approach to concert dramaturgy is evident in the incorporation of unconventional choices, such as jazz spirituals in the programme.

He studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and musicology at Charles University. He mainly returns to his original field of orchestral conducting in concerts of various choral series, where he has been working closely with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia for the past three years. He has conducted members of both the Czech Philharmonic and the Kiev Symphony Orchestra.

Lukáš Vasilek gained his first experience with choral singing as a member of the Boni pueri boys’ choir. His subsequent artistic journey led him to serve as the choirmaster of the Foerster Chamber Choir and later the National Theatre Choir. In 2022, he was a guest conductor of the French choir Accentus. In addition to the Prague Philharmonic Choir, he works with the vocal ensemble Martinů Voices, which he founded in 2010. With this ensemble, he primarily interprets chamber choral music spanning from the 19th to the 21st centuries. He is also a teacher at the Academy of Performing Arts, where he teaches choral conducting.

As a conductor and choirmaster, he has made a lasting impact through numerous recordings produced for major record labels such as Decca Classics and Supraphon. In recent years, his recordings of Bohuslav Martinů’s choral works have garnered international acclaim, earning awards from prestigious magazines such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Diapason. His most recent CD with the Prague Philharmonic Choir was recorded in 2023. The album entitled Stravinsky, Janáček, Bartók: Village Stories encapsulates the rediscovered magic of folk songs and rituals in the compositions of these three 20th century masters.

source: Prague Philharmonic Choir

‘Simona Šaturová, a native to Bratislava just like Lucia Popp and Edita Gruberová, is nothing short of a small Mozartian miracle. She sings the part of Konstanze with such unwavering coloraturas, sensitive pianos and stylistic perfection that it will take your breath away.’ (Der neue Merker)

Simona Houda-Šaturová is a highly sought-after performer of Mozart roles and of the Italian bel canto repertoire, as well as a renowned concert singer. The highlights of recent seasons include her performance of Mozart’s trilogy (Mozart – Da Ponte) in the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, in which she sang the part of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and made her debut as Countess Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro), as well as her collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic and Herbert Blomstedt, with the Munich Philharmonic and Krzysztof Urbański, with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Andrés Orozco-Estrada, with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Juraj Valčuha, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoir at the Tanglewood Music Festival, with the Mozarteum Orchestra and Riccardo Minasi at the Salzburg Festival, a concert tour with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Manfred Honeck and Jakub Hrůša, and with the Orchestre National de Paris and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Concert and opera productions have taken her to the Semperoper in Dresden, the Theater an der Wien, Opéra de Rouen, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Oper Frankfurt, to Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Hercules Hall in Munich, to festivals held in Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne, and led to working on pieces with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, Fabio Luisi, Herbert Blomstedt, Ádám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Tomáš Netopil, Tomáš Hanus, Robert Jindra, Emmanuel Villaume, Christopher Hogwood and others. The opera singer is a very popular guest at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Aalto Theatre in Essen and the National Theatre in Prague.

Her discography is also very rich. She has recorded music for Supraphon (Martinů, Dvořák, Míča), Sony BMG (Orff, Saint-Saëns), Orfeo (Haydn’s Arias, awarded the ‘Editor’s Choice’), Accentus (Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 with Herbert Blomstedt, given the International Classical Music Award), Hänssler Classics (Haydn), Nibiru Publishers (Decade – Mozart, Mysliveček, and Ryba’s Stabat mater, awarded the Diapason d’Or) and others. Her recording of Hasse’s Requiem & Miserere (Carus Verlag) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Ondine) won an award given by German critics, the ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’, and the Supersonic Award. She has recorded Eugen Suchoň’s song cycle Ad astra for the Slovak Music Fund. Her latest recording to date is Te Deum by Karol Kurpiński (with Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks NIFCCD, 2021).

Simona Houda-Šaturová graduated from the Bratislava Conservatoire and furthered her vocal education at maestro courses taught by Ileana Cotrubas in Vienna and under the tutelage of Margreet Honig in Amsterdam. She holds the Charlotte and Walter Hamel Foundation Prize for outstanding singing performance (Lübeck 2007) and the Thalia Award for the best opera performance in 2001.

Markéta Cukrová belongs to the most sought-after Czech soloists in the field of historically informed music. She gives guest performances in the National Theatre in Prague, National Theatre in Brno, and Košice State Theatre. She regularly cooperates with Italian ensemble Mala Punica and Belgian Club Mediéval, in the Czech Republic she regularly performs with Collegium Marianum, Musica Florea, Czech Ensemble Baroque or Ensemble 18+. In recent years, she has been short-listed two times for the Opera Plus Award for the Best Opera Singer of the season and nominated for two major opera awards of the Czech Republic (Thalia, Classic Prague Awards).

The mezzo-soprano Markéta Cukrová is a unique phenomenon in the field of Czech vocal music. For her spectacular versatility and her sense of style, she ranks among the most sought-after singers in the field of “early music” up to 20th century classical music. She performs with many ensembles that offer top-class interpretations of both the Medieval and Baroque music (La Risonanza, Mala Punica, Les Muffatti, Collegium Marianum, Ensemble Tourbillon, Collegium Vocale Gent, Collegium 1704, Musica Florea, Ensemble Inégal, Czech Ensemble Baroque, Wroclaw Philharmony, {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna, Göttingen Festival Orchestra). Markéta has also participated in more than twenty recordings of early music with ensembles mentioned above.

Her performances of the early song repertoire from the turn of the nineteenth century (Haydn, Tomaschek, Berlioz) accompanied by fortepiano are highly prized, as well as her recordings of 8 Italian arias by J. D. Zelenka (Ensemble Tourbillon) and her recent recording of J. J. Ryba’s Stabat Mater together with the ensemble L'Armonie Terrena, which was awarded Diapason d'Or. The newest release represents the whole of Moravian duets by Antonín Dvořák accompanied by composer's own instrument (precious Bösendorfer, Vienna 1879). She also acted as the music dramaturge of the 9 Weeks of Baroque festival which was held during the project Pilsen – European Capital of Culture 2015.

Markéta is also engaged in pedagogical activities in the form of courses and lessons focused on the technique of singing and interpretation of vocal music. She also translated a book of interviews with famous teacher Margreet Honig which is about techniques and teaching of singing and was published under the title True Singing.

She is also known for her notable opera appearances: Her performance as Dardano in Händel’s Amadigi di Gaula at the Händelfestspiele in Göttingen, Germany, received high critical praise followed by an invitation to perform in a solo recital. She also guests in the Košice State Theatre (Handel/Alcina), the National Theatre Brno (Offenbach/ Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Martinů/The Miracles of Mary, Purcell/ Dido and Aeneas, Saariaho/ L'Amour de loin, Rossini/ Le comte Ory, Offenbach/ Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Ivanovič/Monument), the National Theatre Opera in Prague (Monteverdi/Orfeo, Händel/Rinaldo, Martinů/Julietta) and the The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre Ostrava (Britten/The Rape of Lucretia, Gluck/Ifigenia in Aulis, Martinů/Julietta).

Petr Nekoranec, a rising star of the tenor firmament, graduated from the Pardubice Conservatoire. He launched his meteoric artistic career at the age of twenty, when he won two prizes at the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary. Two years later, he won several prizes at the Prague Spring International Music Competition, and in 2014 he won second prize at the Concours International de Chant in Toulouse, France. In 2017 he was the overall winner of the prestigious Francesco Viñas International Competition Singing in Barcelona. From 2014 to 2016 he was an ensemble member with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where he sang several parts, including the title roles in Rossini’s Le comte Ory and in Britten’s Albert Herring. For the latter role, he was awarded the Bavarian Arts Prize. In 2016 he took part in the Lindemann Programme at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as the first Czech in history to do so. Since September 2018 he has been engaged as a soloist with the Stuttgart Opera, where he is appearing as Rossini’s Count Almaviva (Barber of Seville) and Ramiro (La Cenerentola) and Donizetti’s Ernesto (Don Pasquale).

Born in the Czech Republic, the bass Jan Martinik has won several prizes, including – in 2009 – the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize.

In the past eight years, Jan has been a soloist of Berlin’s Staatsoper Under den Linden, the oldest opera house in Germany, singing in the roles of Brander (La damnation de Faust), Colline (La Bohéme), Eremit (Der Freischütz), Father Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), Pistola (Falstaff), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), and many others. He has also worked with Komische Oper Berlin, Prague’s National Theatre, Vienna’s Volksoper and other opera houses.

A regular guest with the Czech Philharmonic, Jan has recently made appearances with the Bamberger Symphoniker, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, LSO, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Staatskapelle Dresden, to name but a few. Coming up are his performances with the LSO, the Czech Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Jan sings under some of the world’s most prominent maestros, including Daniel Barenboim, Jiri Belohlavek, Semyon Bychkov, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrusa, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Jan’s recording of Schubert’s Winterreise, which was recently released by Supraphon, received five Diapasons and his recording of Dvorak’s Biblical Songs with the Czech Philharmonic and Jiri Belohlavek was released on the Decca label in early 2020. He is also one of the soloists on the Czech Philharmonic’s recording of Martinu’s Epos of Gilgamesh (released by Supraphon in 2017) and on Collegium 1704’s recording of Donizetti’s Requiem.