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Czech national concert band share stage with ochestra from Szeged, Hungary
The Czech national concert band has been cooperating with the Hungarian conductor József Csikota for many years. Professor Csikota is the director of a private music school in the southern Hungarian spa town of Makó and also conducts the orchestra of Béla Bartók University in Szeged. It was this orchestra that accepted our offer for a joint concert in the Suk Hall of the House of Music in Pardubice, which took place on Sunday 16 October.
The Czech national concert band performed under the baton of its chief conductor Václav Blahunk and with soloists from its ranks, hornist Kateřina Soukupová, clarinettist Ondřej Toman and trumpet player Jan Buček. The highlight of the concert was the performance of Enrique Hernandez Martinez’s Las Tijeras Matisse, which the orchestra gave its world premiere at the Žofín Festival in Prague in the summer. Under the baton of Professor Csikota, the orchestra played the overture Lustspiel by the Hungarian composer Béla Keller.
In addition to their joint performance in Pardubice, the Hungarian orchestra also gave a concert at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Lázně Bohdaneč. The programme included not only works by Hungarian composers, but also a part of Julius Fucik’s Requiem. The concert was enriched by solo performances by several students of the university and also by a trumpet septet. The orchestra was accompanied on its journey by the composer and Dean of the University of Szeged, Professor Péter Tóth. His compositions were performed at both concerts.
The Czech national concert band ended a very successful year with this concert. In 2023, the orchestra is looking forward to a number of prestigious performances at festivals such as Talich’s Beroun, Pardubice Music Spring or a concert as part of the anniversary of the WASBE Eastern European Section in Hungary.
Czech national concert band pays tribute to czech military band leaders
On Friday, 9 September, the National Wind Orchestra performed under the baton of its chief conductor Václav Blahunk at the Jirásek Theatre in Nový Bydžov. It opened the 26th annual Fišerův Bydžov Festival of Wind Music. With the dramaturgy of the concert this time the orchestra paid tribute to military bandleaders who stood at the roots of brass music and whose compositions were the main source of the repertoire of Czech wind orchestras. The orchestra framed its programme with Julius Fucik’s famous marches. The beginning of the concert featured his Ride of the Gladiators and the concert ended with the Florentine March. The concert also included compositions by Jindřich Praveček, Eduard Kudelásek, Jindřich Brejšek, Jaroslav Zeman, Karel Bělohoubek and Petr Stříška. The main soloist of the evening was trombonist of the Czech Philharmonic Jan Perný. The members of the orchestra, horn player Kateřina Soukupová, trumpet player Jan Buček and clarinet player Ondřej Toman, also performed their solos superbly.
We won gold at the World Music Contest Kerkrade
Our music season culminated in Kerkrade, Holland at the World Music Contest. As we have already informed, this is a prestigious competition held once every four years. Thanks to all of you who donated at HitHit website, we had the opportunity to go to represent Czech wind symphonic music in the world.
Several months of rehearsals have borne their fruit and we are taking home a gold medal from Holland. Don’t worry, we won’t rest and we will continue to practice and make music so that we can continue to play not only in our country but also all over the world.
Thanks to our great chief conductor Václav Blahunek and to all of you who support us.
Summer rehealsals in Přelouč
The world competition in Kerkrade, the Netherlands, is just a few days away. There is no time to waste, so we took a 5-day intensive training camp, where else but in the Přelouč ZUŠ. In the morning there were split rehearsals by sections and in the afternoon we all practiced together under the direction of the chief conductor Václav Blahunek.
During this camp we also had a nice duty – to celebrate 5 years of NDO. It seems like yesterday that we played our first concert together in the Civic Credit Union Hall in Přelouč. There was cake and games and we all enjoyed the whole evening very much.
But we couldn’t overdo it with the celebration. The next day we had a shooting in the Suk Hall in Pardubice. Here we played the competition programme and the songs that will be performed this Friday, 22nd July at Žofín during the international music conference WASBE. In addition to the audio recording, a visual one was also created. We were led not only by the chief conductor of the national team, but also by the Dutch conductor Joop Boerstoel.
You have a lot to look forward to. And we look forward to seeing you all at Žofín.
Czech and American orchestras share a stage
On 21 June, the National Wind Orchestra performed in the concert hall of the Prague Conservatory as part of the Rio Americano Concert Band & Jazz Band concert. The concert opened with a piece by Japanese composer Yasuhide Ito Diferencias on an Old Spanish Song and music by Czech-born composer Václav Nelhybl Symphonic movement. Dynamic passages in forte alternated with slow dark movements. Listeners were thus constantly on the alert as to what note from what instrument would be heard. We were then replaced on stage by our American colleagues, who maintained a pleasant atmosphere in the hall and played the final part of the concert.
Our next performance will be in Prague again, this time in Žofín Palace, but we will inform you about it in more detail. We are already looking forward to it and we hope that you are too.