What is happening
Autumn concerts
On October 12, the band performed in Suk Hall at the House of Music in Pardubice, joined by its Austrian guests. The Swarovski Musik Wattens Concert Band, which won first place at the international competition in Prague two years ago, accepted the invitation to this joint concert and performed in the first half of the program. Under the baton of their conductor Stefan Köhl, the orchestra, a resident ensemble of the Swarovski company, delivered an outstanding performance. The repertoire included works by Philip Sparke, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Alfred Reed. In the second half, the Czech National Concert Band took the stage under the direction of its chief conductor Václav Blahunek. The highlight of the evening was a performance by trumpeter Jiří Houdek, who presented Vincenzo Bellini’s Concerto for Oboe.
The band’s second autumn performance was part of the inaugural Swing Festival in Pardubice. The orchestra concluded the festival with a gala evening, once again conducted by Václav Blahunek, presenting a special program tailored to the event. The repertoire featured works by George Gershwin, Frank Sinatra, and Glenn Miller. The soloist of the evening was clarinetist and saxophonist Felix Slováček Jr., who performed Artie Shaw’s Concerto for Clarinet and, as an encore, played the soprano saxophone with a virtuosic rendition of Waldyr de Azevedo’s Amorador.
The Czech National Concert Band concluded its performances for this year but is already inviting audiences to its next concert at the Talichův Beroun Festival, which will take place at the Plzeňka Cultural House in Beroun on February 15, 2025.
The Czech National Concert Band Paid Tribute to Smetana and Shakespeare with Two Concerts
The Czech National Concert Band didn’t take a break during the summer and accepted an invitation to perform at two significant events.
On Friday, July 26, the band performed at the prestigious Shakespeare Festival in Litomyšl. In the beautiful setting of the riding hall at Litomyšl Castle, they presented a program that combined the works of Litomyšl native Bedřich Smetana with those of the greatest playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. Under the baton of chief conductor Václav Blahunek, the concert opened with Smetana’s majestic March for Shakespeare’s Festivities. This was followed by the world premiere of Sonnet 18, a composition by Jiří Kabát, which skillfully set Shakespeare’s verses to music. The solo part was performed by soprano Irena Pohl Houkalová, founder of the ZUŠ Open festival and director of the Magdalena Kožená Endowment Fund.
The event in Litomyšl was organized under the auspices of the ZUŠ Open festival. The program continued with the energetic Skočná and Mařenka’s aria from the opera The Bartered Bride, and the finale featured two Slavonic Dances by Antonín Dvořák. On Saturday, July 27, the band performed in the picturesque southern gardens of Prague Castle. Once again with soprano Irena Pohl Houkalová and conductor Václav Blahunek, they presented the same concert program from the previous day, this time enriched with additional arias and overtures by Smetana and Dvořák. The performance concluded with Fučík’s Florentine March and Kmoch’s Music, Music.
The band will return to the stage in autumn with two concerts in Pardubice. On October 12, they will perform in Suk Hall at the House of Music, where they will accompany trumpeter Jiří Houdek. On November 2, everyone is warmly invited to the swing festival at Ideon Hall, where the band will take part in the final gala concert with Felix Slováček Jr.
Concerts for the Year of Czech Music
On May 20 and 21, the Czech National Concert Band performed in five concerts titled “Treasures of Czech Music.” Four of the concerts were designed as educational programs for children, and the final one was a gala concert in Přelouč for the general public. The concerts were organized by NIPOS Artama in cooperation with the Přelouč School of the Arts.
The orchestra played under the baton of its chief conductor, Václav Blahunek. The soloist for the concerts was soprano Eliška Tomeňuková.
The first two concerts took place in the Suk Hall of the House of Music in Pardubice, and on the second day, the orchestra moved to the Civic Hall in Přelouč. Nearly one thousand listeners, mostly young people, attended the concerts. The program featured works by Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, and Bohuslav Martinů.
The Czech National Concert Band thanks NIPOS Artama for their significant assistance in preparing these exceptional concerts.
Talich’s Beroun 2024
An evening full of music came to life at the KD Plzeňka as part of the Talich’s Beroun 2024 music festival and was the culmination of the third year of conducting courses. Maestros Václav Blahunek and Štěpán Med showed that the conductor’s baton is a musical magic wand in their hands, which they used to create a unique atmosphere full of emotions.
The stage was dominated by the technical brilliance of the clarinetist Ludmila Peterkova and the charming voice of the soprano singer Eliska Tomeňuková. Although the evening was devoted mainly to Czech composers such as Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinů, the Clarinet Concerto by Philip Sparke, which had its Czech premiere here in Beroun, brought an international touch.
This piece was a great indicator that despite our czech musical icons, we are still open to new compositions from all over the world. The audience received Spark’s concert with open hearts and applause, which lasted long after the last note. And so the NDO concert at KD Plzeňka reminded us that music is the true universal language that connects us all.
The Last concert of 2023
The Czech National Concet Band’s (NDO) Christmas concert was once again one of the highlights of the musical calendar this year. Under the baton of chief conductor Václav Blahunek, the concert opened with the Hussite chant “Who are God’s warriors”, which became a symbol of pride and courage during the Hussite wars and was used in the works of several important Czech composers, including Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. This was followed by “The Rise of the Quetzal” and “Divertimento for Brass and Percussion”, with which the orchestra is preparing to compete at next year’s Flicorno d’Oro international competition in Italy, a major opportunity for every wind ensemble from around the world. An energetic performance of Alexander Carlin’s “Epic Variants” with a solo by Petr Valášek on bass clarinet ended the first half of the evening.
The second half of the concert brought a change of conductor, with Ondřej Mejsnar taking the baton. This part of the evening was mainly dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Disney. There were pieces such as ‘Symphonic Highlights from Frozen’, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘A Home Alone Christmas’, each with its own unique atmosphere and charm.
The whole evening was a celebration of music that can not only evoke memories and emotions, but also connect the past to the present and show how deeply music can reach into our hearts.
Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to more musical encounters together.