With Whom Will You Play?
The chamber music groups are formed to be well-balanced according to the musical level of the participants. Based on the repertoire and the number of participants, the groups are very variable, from a trio up to a nonet, with various instrument set-up. Some ensembles might be completed with the tutor as the playing member as well.
And who will the tutors be?
We are happy to present the following “crew” to you:
Lucie Sedláková Hůlová is a sought-after violinist and chamber musician. Born in Prague, she graduated from the Prague Conservatory and from the Prague Academy of Music (Masters degree). She has to her credit an impressive list of solo appearances with Czech orchestras as well as with partners in various chamber music combinations. She regularly plays with her husband, cellist Martin Sedlák, as the Czech String Duo and together they also join forces with pianist Veronika Böhmová, forming the Kinsky Trio Prague. She frequently played with her father, violinist Pavel Hůla. After his death she took over the artistic direction of the Praga Camerata chamber orchestra. She engages herself also in performing baroque music in authentic interpretation on authentic instruments, both as soloist as well as in specialized ensembles. Her CD recording of complete Biber’s Rosary Sonatas is well received by professional critics.
She was shortly a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink. In 2000 – 2006 she was also a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra where she worked with the world’s most famous and respected conductors and soloists. She teaches at the Music School in Prague and as a tutor or lecturer she regularly attends various music courses. More info at https://lucie.kinskytrio.cz
Martin Sedlák, cello, graduated from the Prague Conservatory under Václav Jírovec in 1997 and from the Academy of Music under Josef Chuchro in 2002. He took part in master classes of the most famous cellists of our time (M. Mlejnik, E. Arizcuren, T. Kühne, M. Perényi, M. Rostropovich). M. Rostropovich said about him: “He is an excelent cellist, who has his instrument under a perfect control.” He has received numerous prizes in cello competitions at home as well as abroad (Liezen in Austria, Viňa del Mar in Chile, Prague in Czech Republic). He got several special prizes for the best interpretation of Martinů´s work. In 1998 he was entered, as a soloist, on the prestigious list of young artists issued by the Czech Music Fund.
Apart from his career as a soloist, he is a sought-after partner in various chamber combinations. He plays with his wife, violinist, Lucie Sedláková Hůlová in the Czech String Duo and together with pianist Veronika Böhmová in the piano trio Kinsky Trio Prague. He is a principal member and soloist of the Praga Camerata chamber orchestra, founded by Pavel Hůla. He collaborates also on a crossover projects with the jazz piano trio. In 2001-2002 He was a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra and later the UBS Verbier Chamber Orchestra where he worked with the world’s most famous and respected conductors and soloists. He teaches at the Music School in Prague and as a tutor or lecturer he is regularly invited on various music courses. He has played as a soloist or chamber musician in most countries of Europe, South and North America, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Zambia and Seychelles. He has made many recordings for Czech Radio as well as on CDs.
Veronika Böhmová, piano, completed her doctoral studies at the Academy of Music in Prague in the class of Prof. Ivan Klánský and Meisterklasse in the class of Prof. Arkadi Zenzipér at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. She is the laureate of a great number of national and international competitions; her greatest successes include advancement among the 32 best pianists in the world at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv in 2014, 2nd Prize at the Anton G. Rubinstein Competition in Dresden in 2012, advancement to the semi-finals at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2010 and 2nd Prize at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona in 2007. Veronika introduced herself with her recitals to the public in most of the European countries, in the USA, Mexico, Japan and China. In 2014, Veronika recorded a CD with compositions by Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky for Supraphon. She cooperates regularly with leading European and world orchestras and currently has 30 piano concertos in her repertoire. In 2016 she achieved her greatest success so far, namely a performance in the famous concert hall of the Isaac Stern Auditorium – Carnegie Hall in New York. She is also a sought-after partner in chamber music.
More info at http://www.veronikabohmova.com/
Jan Nykrýn, violist, acquired invaluable performing experiences not only during his studies at the Prague Conservatory, but also at the Lawrence University (USA, 1991–92), in master classes with William Preucil – primarius of the Cleveland Quartet – and others. Jan Nykrýn performed as the principal violist of the Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra where he also appeared as a soloist. He gained the first prize in the national competitions of faculties of education in Plzeň in 1998. He graduated from the Charles University in 2002. In years 1995-2007, he was a member of the Czech Nonet. With the group, he toured the United States and many countries in Europe, as well as recorded live for radio broadcasting companies around the globe, and also recorded many CDs for Harmonia Mundi – Praga Digital label. He also performs as a soloist, for example with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in 2020. Since 2005, alongside his performing activities, tours, and recordings as a member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, he has been intensely engaged in chamber music. He performs regularly with the Parnas Ensemble, as well as Musica Pro Anima chamber ensemble, and the Praga Camerata chamber orchestra.
Ludmila Peterková – Czech clarinet player – a soloist, chamber music player and a teacher. She is a laureate of the Prague Spring 1991 competition, Harmony award for the best recording of 2001 and others. She performs regularly as a soloist with major Czech orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic. In 2014 she was a guest in Moscow where she performed with the Tchaikowsky Symphony Orchestra and well-known conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev the Ondrej Kukal’s Clarinettino. Since 1993 she has recorded many titles for the label Supraphon, as a soloist and also in various chamber music formations.
She has taught at the Prague Conservatory already since she was 27, since 2017 she has been a chief of woodwind department at the Teplice Conservatory as well. In Domažlice, West Bohemia, she also organizes her own summer course of clarinet and chamber performance. In 2018, it was the 11thedition already.
More info at: www.peterkova.cz
Jitka Vlašánková, cello, is a founding member of the Martinu Quartet and has an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist. She has received numerous prizes in cello competitions at home as well as abroad (Prague Spring International Competition, Pablo Casals Competition in Budapest and others). Jitka has been a driving force behind the Play with the Professionals (PLAYWIP) program for amateur chamber players and has been invited to sit on juries of international competitions. Her cello and chamber music students regularly achieve recognition at competitions. Jitka‘s intense focus as a performer and teacher is combined with a radiant and enthusiastic personality.
Violinist Štěpán Ježek has been playing music since the age of five. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts. In 1998 he founded the Bennewitz Quartet, and he is a member of the ensemble ever since. With the group he continued his postgraduate studies at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía Madrid and at the Musik-Akademie Basel. He has also participated in numerous masterclasses in Austria, France, and the UK.
As a member of the Bennewitz Quartet, Ježek has won numerous prizes at international competitions (ARD Munich 2004, Ósaka Chamber Music Competition and Festa 2005 and Premio Paolo Borciani Reggio Emilia 2008). The ensemble performs in Europe, Asia and America and has made numerous recordings for the Supraphon, Coviello Classics and Hänssler Classic labels.
Štěpán Ježek is professor of violin at the Prague Music High School and teaches chamber music at the Academy of Performing Arts Prague. He has three sons, he loves chess, RC airplanes, football, skiing, photography and above all spending time with friends.
Silvie Ježková, piano, began to devote herself intensively to chamber music already during her studies at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts. She participated in a number of international master classes (Viktoria Švihlíková, Ivan Klánský, Amadeus Quartet, Hagen Quartet, LaSalle Quartet, György Kurtág). She has been invited as a piano partner at Czech French Academy Telč, Meeting Music in Soběslav, Summer Flutes in Jičín and Olomouc, International Flute Masterclasses at the University of Ostrava, as well as in the classes of prominent artists and teachers from the Czech Republic and abroad (Barthold Kuijken, Philippe Bernold, Cathrin Cantin, Jean-Louis Capezzali, Claude Lefévbre, Jan Talich, Clara Nováková, František Malotín, Pavel Kudelásek, Jiří Fišer, Ivan Štraus).
Silvie performs as stable chamber music partner of flutist Jan Ostry and violinist Roman Patočka. She has given concerts with András Adorján, Vicens Prats, André Cazalet and Stephane Réti. She has performed at the Prague Spring Festival, in the Avro Klassiek series at the Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, and at the Lange Nacht der Musik Festival in Vienna. She gave concerts on national and international stages, and has made recordings for ÖRF, Radio 4 Netherlands and Czech Radio.
Silvie works at the department of piano accompaniment at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the Prague Conservatory.
Violinist Michal Sedláček completed his studies at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Prague under professor Jindřich Pazdera.
In 2003 he attended the Meadowmount School of Music where he studied with Stephen Shipps. Starting in 2005 he attended the International Music Academy in Pilsen where he later served as assistant professor in 2009-2011. During this time he also attended master classes of famous violinists such as Ilya Kaler, Rodney Friend, Ulf Hoelscher, Ruggiero Ricci.
He has been collaborating with pianist Maxim Averkiev with whom he has recorded many projects for the Czech Radio Pilsen, including the complete works of Franz Schubert.
In 2007 he revived the Sedlacek Quartet where he plays as a first violinist. The Sedlacek quartet has released 3 albums consisting mostly of works by Czech composers from the 20th century. The group also recorded the complete works by V. J. Veit, K. B. Jirák and Lukas Sommer as well as other composers such as J. Teml, J. Gemrot and P. Glass for the Czech Radio Pilsen.
Michal is currently a violin faculty at the Pilsen Conservatory and concertmaster of the Pilsen Philharmonic where he has also performed solo concertos such as P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. Paganini Concerto No. 4, B. Martinů Concerto No. 2 and Slavomír Hořínka.
He was previously a concertmaster of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra.
He plays a violin built by his father, the violin maker Petr Sedláček.
He is a father to two sons, Oskar and Hubert.
Viktor Mazáček, violinist, studied at the Prague Conservatory under Jaroslav Štětina and the Academy of Performing Arts under Professor Ivan Štraus. He has been a member of the Czech Philharmonic orchestra since 1994; he is also in demand as a chamber musician and works with well-known ensembles like Konvergence, Camerata Bohemica and Capella Regia Prague. He is the leader of the Chamber Orchestra of the Dvořák Region. He has devoted his energies intensively to the Czech Philharmonic Quartet since 2015.
As a former violinist, viola studies of Tomáš Krejbich began in 2011, after being accepted to the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of prof. Jan Pěruška. To improve his performing skills, later in 2014 he decided to study abroad at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen under supervision of Tim Frederiksen and Lars Anders Tomter. During his academic years, he took part in many festivals and masterclasses such as Kyoto International Music Students Festival, International Music Forum Trenta, Karen Tuttle Coordination Conference and many more under the tutelage of Elmar Landerer (Wiener Philharmoniker), Roger Benedict (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) or Pieter Schoeman (London Philharmonic Orchestra). In 2016 he made a solo performance in the Brahms- Saal at the Wiener Musikverein and later in 2017 he performed Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence with Boris Kuschnir, Nikolaj Znaider and Misha Quint at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg InterHarmony International Music Festival. He performed with various orchestras and ensembles e.g., European Union Youth Orchestra, PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Barocco Sempre Giovane and Prague Chamber Orchestra, alongside conductors like Jiří Bělohlávek, Jakub Hrůša, Gianandrea Noseda and soloists like Alisa Weilerstein, Giuliano Carmignola, Pinchas Zuckerman, Jana Boušková, Anna Netrebko or Diana Damrau. Also his orchestral and chamber music experience brought him into some internationally acclaimed concert venues such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Usher Hall Edinburgh or Royal Opera House Muscat. He is currently appointed a viola tutti in Prague Symphony Orchestra and a member of Sedláček quartet and from 2015 a music school teacher.