What is happening
Concert in Hradec Králové Cathedral
Concert band does not belong only to great concert halls but can perform beautifully in cathedrals as well. This was proven by Czech National Concert Band’s latest performance in the Cathedral of Holy Spirit in Hradec Králové.
The concert started with two coronation entrances by Czech baroque composer Jiří Ignác Linek. After that followed piece by great composer like Johann Sebastian Bach or Bedřich Smetana. The second half consisted of more contemporary piece starting with beautiful “La Quintessenza” by Johan de Meij, followed by the two contest pieces for the 2022 Word Music Contest. The difficult contemporary pieces were very well received by the audience and we hope to have similar success in the contest this July.
Thank you, everyone, for the support and we hope to see you again on our next concert.
Concert in Beroun (CZ)
On the 19. 2. 2022 our concert band met again to perform in Beroun (CZ). Through the whole weekend the first year of conducting workshop for conductors of concert bands took place in Beroun lead by our chief conductor Václav Blahunek. Our concert was held by the organizers of the international music festival Talichův Beroun who also organized the conducting workshop.
As always we performed very difficult repertoire including the concert for trombone and concert band “T-bone concerto” by Johanne de Meij. The trombone solo was performed by a member of the Czech philharmonic and wonderful performer Mr. Jan Perný. Among other pieces we also performed “Diferencias on an Old Spanish Song” by Japanese composer Yasuhide Itou, which is a compulsory piece for the World Music Contest in Kerkrade. The Czech National Concert Band is planning to compete in the competition this July with a piece by our favorite composer Václav Nelhybel and his “Two symphonic movements”, which we also performed in Beroun.
We enjoyed our short stay in Beroun and the concert was a success. We are looking forward to our next performance and we hope to see you there!
Concert at the International Big Band festival in Pardubice
On the 16.10.2021 the Czech National Concert Band performed at the International Big Band Festival, which took place in Pardubice for the first time in its history. Our orchestra performed at the closing ceremony at the Suk Hall of the House of Music (Sukova Síň, Dům hudby). Our program consisted of many interesting pieces which were carefully selected with respect to the theme of the festival. Under the baton of Jaroslav Šíp, you could hear such wonderful pieces as the Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez or the Suit in Eb for Military Band by Gustav Holst. We also performed few pieces for soprano saxophone with the famous soloist Mr. Felix Slováček.
You can listen to our performance here:
Conducting workshop in Dačice
The Czech National Concert Band has been cooperating with the Austrian Musicians Association for more than two years and on the 25th September 2021 served as a training orchestra at the conducting workshop in Dačice. Six Austrian conductors participated in the workshop, which was led by Mr. Jaroslav Šíp, the chief conductor of the Czech Army Central Band. It was a wonderful experience not only for the conductors, who got a chance to practice difficult musical pieces with a semi-professional orchestra, but also for the musicians who practice playing the same piece in six different versions according to specific cues and conducting styles of the individual conductors. We hope the mutually beneficial cooperation will continue in the future as well as it did till now.
Concert at the Spanish Hall of the Prague Castle
After more than a year without a concert the Czech National Concert Band started new season with a bang – at the Spanish Hall of the Prague Castle, the residence of the president of the Czech Republic. On 22th of September 2021 the band performed as a guest of the Prague Castle Guard and Police Wind Orchestra on the occasion of the 75. anniversary of the establishment of the orchestra. Under the baton of the principal conductor we performed the Youth Suite “Foglariana” by Czech composer Evžen Zámečník. At the end of the concert the Czech National Concert Band and the Prague Castle Guard and Police Wind Orchestra performed together two famous Czech marches – the “Castaldo” and “Muziky, muziky”.