Outstanding concert artists are not just virtuoso technicians, able to master any score. They must also be resistant to the stress that accompanies every performance; they must keep their adrenaline and nerves under control, and they should certainly also radiate an indescribable charisma. The public finals of the Concertino Praga competition serve to let the contestants demonstrate not only their artistry and mastery of their instruments, but also how they withstand the rigours of concert performance. They will be accompanied by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Robert Jindra, in the presence of a live audience and a discriminating jury consisting of renowned figures from the world of music. The prizes for the winners – including an audience award – will be announced and presented on the spot. Under the joint organisation of Czech Radio and the Academy of Classical Music, the Concertino Praga will brighten the air, bringing youthful élan with a touch of sportsmanlike rivalry to the dignified Rudolfinum.

The jury of Concertino Praga: 

• Marcus Rudolf Axt - CEO of Bamberger Symphoniker
• Boris Brovtzyn - violin
• Wenzel Fuchs - clarinet
• Pavel Gililov - piano
• Václav Hudeček - violin
• Tomáš Jamník - cello
• Ivo Kahánek - piano 
• Sergei Nakariakov - trumpet
• Irvin Venyš - clarinet

The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) is one of the most distinguished Czech orchestras of today. Since the 2022/2023 season, the ensemble has been led by Petr Popelka as its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, with Robert Jindra serving as Principal Guest Conductor for a second consecutive year.

During the 2024/2025 concert season, SOČR will welcome numerous renowned artists, including acclaimed violinist Isabelle Faust and violinist-conductor Renaud Capuçon. Other notable guests include Dutch pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, conductor Han-na Chang, and conductor and organist Wayne Marshall. A highlight of the season is the concert performance of the third act of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, completing a trilogy that began in previous seasons with the first and second acts. Leading roles will be performed by Michael Weinius and Elisabeth Teige. In addition to these international stars, SOČR will also collaborate with prominent Czech soloists such as soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, baritone Adam Plachetka, and violinist Josef Špaček.

In recent years, SOČR has collaborated with leading Czech and international conductors, such as Tomáš Netopil, Petr Altrichter, Jakub Hrůša, Cornelius Meister, Alexander Liebreich, Stephan Asbury, Ion Marin, Michał Nesterowicz, Anu Tali, Wayne Marshall, Omer Meir Wellber, Ilan Volkov, and Eva Ollikainen.

Renowned soloists who have performed with the orchestra include pianist Krystian Zimerman; violinists Pierre Amoyal, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gidon Kremer, and María Dueñas; cellists Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Müller-Schott, István Várdai, and Steven Isserlis; trombonist Christian Lindberg; and jazz musician Avishai Cohen. Vocal soloists have included stars such as Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, José Cura, Juan Diego Flórez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Jonas Kaufmann. The orchestra frequently works with Czech artists such as Lukáš Vondráček, Ivo Kahánek, Jan Bartoš, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Tomáš Jamník, Adam Plachetka, Simona Šaturová, Kateřina Kněžíková, Petr Nekoranec, and Vilém Veverka.

SOČR is dedicated to supporting contemporary Czech composers, commissioning and regularly performing works by Miroslav Srnka, Ondřej Adámek, Pavel Zemek Novák, Jan Ryant Dřízal, Šimon Voseček, and Jana Vöröšová.

The orchestra boasts an extensive recording portfolio. Notable recent recordings include a Hyperion Records release featuring harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and conductor Alexander Liebreich with works by Viktor Kalabis, Hans Krása, and Bohuslav Martinů, which was selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine. Noteworthy is the album Mysterium of Time, featuring music by Miloslav Kabeláč and complementing SOČR’s acclaimed complete recording of his symphonies (Supraphon, 2016).

In 2023, the orchestra recorded an album with violinist Josef Špaček and pianist Miroslav Sekera, presenting chamber and orchestral works by Bohuslav Martinů. That same year, it recorded Jan Novák’s Concertos, conducted by Tomáš Netopil and featuring Novák’s daughters, Dora and Clara Nováková. Both recordings were released by Supraphon.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s birth, SOČR recorded his opera The Two Widows. The recording, conducted by Robert Jindra and featuring soloists Kateřina Kněžíková, Pavol Breslik, Adam Plachetka, Jana Sibera, Petr Nekoranec, and the National Theatre Chorus, was broadcast on Czech Radio Vltava and will be released on CD.

SOČR presents concerts as part of subscription series at major Prague venues, including the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, Bethlehem Chapel, as well as individual concerts at DOX+ and Czech Radio’s Studio 1.

The orchestra is a regular guest at prestigious festivals such as the Prague Spring International Music Festival, Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, Smetana’s Litomyšl, Leoš Janáček International Music Festival, and the Český Krumlov International Music Festival.

Internationally, SOČR frequently performs at major European venues and regularly tours in Japan, continuing to strengthen its reputation on the global stage.

source: Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu

Robert Jindra graduated from the Prague Conservatory, where he studied classical singing and conducting.

Since 2001, he has been affiliated with the National Theatre in Prague, where he has prepared productions such as Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Smetana’s The Two Widows, and several operas by Leoš Janáček (The Cunning Little Vixen, From the House of the Dead), as well as a wide range of Czech and international repertoire, including Smetana’s The Secret and Libuše, Dvořák’s Rusalka, Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová and Jenůfa, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro, Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Falstaff, and Wagner’s Lohengrin. He also led special concerts, including Mozart’s Birthday and the Czech Opera Gala.

During the 2013/2014 season, he served as Music Director of the National Theatre Opera in Prague. From February 2010 to November 2014, he was the Music Director of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre Opera in Ostrava, where he conducted numerous opera premieres, including Smetana’s The Devil’s Wall, Dvořák’s Armida, Janáček’s Jenůfa, The Makropulos Affair, Káťa Kabanová, and The Excursions of Mr. Brouček, Wagner’s Lohengrin, Verdi’s Falstaff and La traviata, Massenet’s Werther, Catalani’s La Wally, Puccini’s La Bohème, and Hindemith’s Cardillac. He also led gala concerts dedicated to Verdi, Czech opera, and Puccini.

Internationally, he has collaborated with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, conducted at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo (Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos), and at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava (Halévy’s La Juive, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride). He has performed at prominent festivals such as the Prague Spring (Adam Plachetka Recital), Smetana’s Litomyšl, Viva Musica! Festival (concerts with Pavol Breslik and Adriana Kučerová, West Side Story/Candide), Janáček May (Adam Plachetka Gala Concert), Leoš Janáček Festival in Ostrava, and Košická hudobná jar.

Jindra has worked with numerous orchestras, including the Prague Chamber Philharmonic, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Pilsen Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Zlín, Slovak Philharmonic, State Philharmonic Košice, Essen Philharmonic, and the Anhalt Philharmonic Orchestra in Dessau.

Between 2019 and 2021, he served as First Kapellmeister at the Aalto Musiktheater und Philharmonie Essen, where he conducted productions such as Reimann’s Medea, Wagner’s Ring an einem Abend, revivals of Puccini’s Tosca, Bizet’s Carmen, and various other operas and concerts.

In 2021, he made a highly acclaimed debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper Festival in Munich with Dvořák’s Rusalka. He conducted a gala concert celebrating Eva Urbanová’s career anniversary at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre and led a concert performance of Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Jarmila Novotná Festival in Liteň.

From September 2021 to August 2024, he served as Chief Conductor of the State Philharmonic Košice. His other recent projects include productions of Verdi’s La traviata at the Slovak National Theatre, Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper in Graz, Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, The Cunning Little Vixen at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and, in 2023, one of the orchestra’s anniversary concerts at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Since September 2022, he has held the position of Music Director of the National Theatre in Prague and Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2024/2025 season, Jindra made notable debuts at the Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden (Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair), Semperoper Dresden (Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette), and Oper Frankfurt (Janáček’s From the House of the Dead). In upcoming seasons, he will perform at prestigious venues, including the Vienna State Opera, Bregenz Festival, and Theater an der Wien.

Throughout his career, Jindra has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Cornelia Beskow, Susan Bullock, Lise Davidsen, Ermonela Jaho, Jana Kurucová, Elena Maximova, Olga Peretyatko, Rosalind Plowright, Štěpánka Pučálková, Nadine Secunde, Elena Tsallagova, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Slávka Zámečníková, Arnold Bezuyen, Pavol Breslik, Pavel Černoch, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Peter Kellner, Tomasz Konieczny, Marek Kozák, Ambrogio Maestri, Štefan Margita, Adam Plachetka, Gustavo Porta, Roberto Saccà, Jiří Vodička, and Lukáš Vondráček.

source: www.robertjindra.com

Since the age of three, Richard would visit his brother’s violin lessons with Zakhar Bron, later becoming his student at the Zakhar Bron Academy. He began playing the violin at the age of five.

Six months later (still at the age of five), he performed Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto at a concert with PKF – Prague Philharmonia and soon after appeared at festivals in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and Japan.

In May 2016, he performed at the United Nations Global Compact Summit in Prague, representing the host country. To mark his 10th birthday, he played Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with PKF – Prague Philharmonia. The following year, at the age of 11, he performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra.

A major milestone in his career came when he won Second Prize at the prestigious Nutcracker International Television Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow. In the finals, he performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra at the Tchaikovsky Hall. In addition to his prize, he received two special awards—an exclusive interview in the Musical Life magazine and an invitation to perform at Vladimir Spivakov’s Moscow Meets Friends festival. Russian media quickly embraced him, referring to him as a “child prodigy” and a “Mozart child.”

In 2021, Richard participated in the Virtuosos talent show organized by Hungarian television, where he won the Special Prize, the Maestro Plácido Domingo Prize, the Orchestra Prize (which included an invitation to perform with an orchestra), and the Audience Award. Later that year, his mentor Plácido Domingo introduced him as a “rising star” at the opening concert of the 30th Český Krumlov International Music Festival, where Richard performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Kohn.

He also appeared in the New Year’s concert at the Bartók Hall in Müpa Budapest and was honoured with numerous concert invitations from the Virtuosos management for performances in Hungary and abroad, including Expo 2020 in Dubai.

In 2022, Richard won Third Prize and the Best Czech Participant award at the Concertino Praga international music competition, performing Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Dvořák Hall in Rudolfinum. He also performed at a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of Viktor Kalabis in the Martinů Hall at HAMU.

In March 2023, Richard performed alongside Maestro Plácido Domingo in Budapest. In September of the same year, he played Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with conductor Stanislav Vavřínek and the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice at the closing concert of the Zlatá Pecka Festival.

In 2023, he won first prize at the Astana Violin competition. Since September 2023, he has been studying at the Prague Conservatoire under Jiří Vodička.

In March 2024, he performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House. Later that year, in September 2024, he won first prize in the senior category at the Henryk Wieniawski and Karol Lipiński International Violin Competition in Poland.

Richard frequently appears on television, radio, and in magazine interviews. In 2021, he was featured in the Czech Television documentary Talent.

source: Jiří Kollert

Filippo Lombardi is studying the trumpet at the C. Monteverdi Conservatory in Bolzano. He has won prizes at a number of national and international competitions, including the International Competition for Young Instrumentalists in Povoletto or the Premio Crescendo competition, since the age of eleven. He has also received the National Prize for trumpet playing. In November 2019, he participated in the fourth year of the Prodigy competition, which is broadcast in prime time by Italian public television. He was selected as part of the 2021 summer program for young people at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has participated in master classes given by the most famous trumpeters, including Sergei Nakariakov, Stephen Burns, Friedemann Immer, Rex Richardson, Omar Tomasoni and Ruben Simeo.

Victor Vichev was born in Sophia in 2006. He is studying the piano at the National School of Music and Dance in Plovdiv. In 2014, he was awarded the first prize at the prestigious Svetoslav Obretenov National Competition, while he received a Special Diploma from the International Piano Competition in Smederevo, Serbia and the first prize at the Great Composers competition in London in 2019. He also received the first prize at the sixth National Academic Piano Competition of J. S. Bach and his Contemporaries in Plovdiv and a special prize from the Golden Talents 2021 international competition in the same year. As a soloist, he has performed, for example, Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major in Plovdiv (2018) and in Sophia (2019) or Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major with the Sophia Sinfonietta in Sophia and Shumen (2021).

Diana Chausheva was born in Sophia in 2007. At the age of six, she was accepted into the National Music School, where she quickly began to develop her performance abilities. She has been awarded a number of prizes from international competitions, including the 1st prize at the 7th International String Instrument Competition in Nis (Serbia, 2015), the exceptional absolute prize at the 8th international Ohrid te sakam competition (Macedonia, 2020), the 1st prize at the Opus Artis music competition in Paris, the 4th prize at the prestigious 2021 Piccolo Violino Magico international violin competition (Italy), the 1st prize at the International Violin Competition “Young Paganini” in Legnica (Poland, 2021) and others. She has successfully participated at several master classes under the leadership of Stefan Tarara, Leonid Kerbel, Dora Schwarzberg and others.

The Rudolfinum is one of the most important Neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic. In its conception as a multi-purpose cultural centre it was quite unique in Europe at the time of its construction. Based on a joint design by two outstanding Czech architects, Josef Zítek and Josef Schultz, a magnificent building was erected serving for concerts, as a gallery, and as a museum. The grand opening on 7 February 1885 was attended by Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in whose honour the structure was named. In 1896 the very first concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra took place in the Rudolfinum's main concert hall, under the baton of the composer Antonín Dvořák whose name was later bestowed on the hall.