The Chamber Series at this year’s Dvořák Prague Festival will conclude with a special combination that could form the basis of a festival “all-star team”. Joining with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra as soloists are the violinist Josef Špaček, the cellist Tomáš Jamník, and naturally the Chamber Series curator, the pianist Lukáš Vondráček. Josef Špaček will also provide the artistic direction for this musical society. All of the players will join together to play the Grand rondeau for Piano Trio and Orchestra by Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek – a Czech composer whose music reflects the milieu of the Viennese Classical Era and above all the influence of Beethoven, who was a generation older. Surrounding Voříšek’s Grand rondeau are two serenades for string orchestra. – the first by Josef Suk and the last by Antonín Dvořák. With their rich melodies and lyrically radiant atmosphere, they will flank Voříšek's concertante drama.

The Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra launched its artistic activities after two years of preparations in 2018. The ensemble was founded at the impetus of the former chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Jiří Bělohlávek, who viewed the creating of such a project as a necessity for the regular “hygiene” of orchestral players. The ensemble is not staffed with permanent members. The players rotate in various chamber groups consisting exclusively of members of the Czech Philharmonic based on the needs for the repertoire being performed, which ranges from music of the Baroque era to the works of contemporary composers. At its first performance, a special Christmas Concert in December 2018 with Baroque repertoire, the ensemble collaborated with a renowned early music specialists, the conductor Reinhard Goebel. Among the soloists with whom the ensemble has appeared so far are soprano Simona Šaturová, tenor Jaroslav Březina, harpsichordist Barbara Maria Willi, and vioilnists Jan Mráček and Jiří Vodička. The artistic supervisor of the project is the Czech Philharmonic concertmaster Josef Špaček.

Praised for his remarkable range of colours, his confident and concentrated stage presence, his virtuosity and technical poise as well as the beauty of his tone Josef Špaček has gradually emerged as one of the leading violinists of his generation. His performances of a wide range of repertoire demonstrate his “astonishing articulation and athleticism” (The Scotsman) and “a richness and piquancy of timbre.” (The Telegraph).

Forthcoming highlights include debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Petr Popelka, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner, NHK Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Anja Bihlmaier, as well as returns to the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Joanna Mallwitz, Bamberger Symphoniker and Aurel Dawidiuk, Symphoniker Hamburg and Adam Hickox, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and Kevin John Edusei, Dutch Radio Philharmonic and Stephan Zilias, the Czech Philharmonic and Thomas Adès and George Enescu Philharmonic and Tomáš Netopil.

Recent highlights include highly successful debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša (“his steely technique handling the angular bonhomie as surely as the passing lyrical strains. In the Andante, Špaček rendered the lovely main theme with a beguiling tenderness and sweetness of tone that recalled Suk, his illustrious predecessor.” - CCR), with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Nathalie Stutzmann, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Andrew Manze, the Orchestre National de Lille and Jan-Willem de Vriend, concerts with Sinfonia Varsovia and Marta Gardolińska in Warsaw and Brussels, a concerto and recital tour in China, as well as returns to the Dresdner Philharmonie and Kahchun Wong, the Berner Symphoniker and Anna Sułkowska-Migoń and the Macao Orchestra and Lio Kuokman, as well as a residency with the Residentie Orchestra The Hague with Anja Bihlmaier and Jun Märkl. He also returned to the Verbier Festival for a performance of the Barber concerto.

He equally enjoys giving recitals and playing chamber music and is a regular guest at festivals and in concert halls throughout Europe. He ist he artistic director and co-founder of the Troja chmber music festival Festival, in Prague.
With cellist Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin and pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu he forms the Trio Zimbalist. The trio regularly tours in the US and Europe. Their first CD release with piano trios of Weinberg, Auerbach and Dvořák received high accolades from the international press, including Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice in March 2024, describing the album as “miraculously fresh,” “imaginative,” and “inventive”.

In September 2023 Supraphon released Josef’s recording of Martinů’s Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, violin sonata no. 3 and Five Short Pieces with pianist Miroslav Sekera and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Petr Popelka. The BBC Music Magazine commented that “Špaček and Sekera are virtuosic in the opening movement and searching in the Adagio. There’s a special piquancy in their Scherzo, and all these elements are combined in the finale, where Špaček’s violin tone has shining poise.”

Previous recordings for the Supraphon label are an album with cellist Tomáš Jamník, featuring works for violin and cello by Janáček, Martinů, Schulhoff and Klein; his highly praised recording of the violin concertos of Dvořák and Janáček, coupled with the Fantasy of Suk, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek and a recital disc with works for violin and piano by Smetana, Janáček and Prokofiev with pianist Miroslav Sekera.

Josef Špaček studied with Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School in New York, Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and with Jaroslav Foltýn at the Prague Conservatory.

After having served as concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for nine seasons until the end of the 2019/20, he has devoted himself exclusively to his solo career. The orchestra has named him the Associate Artist in Residence.

Josef Špaček performs on the ca. 1732 “LeBrun; Bouthillard” Guarneri del Gesù violin, generously on loan from an anonymous sponsor.

source: agentura Makropulos

photo © Andrej Grilc

A versatile performer of both traditional and contemporary classical music, Tomáš Jamník studied cello in Prague, Leipzig, and at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. After graduating, he received a Karajan Academy scholarship at the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2023, he completed a six-month residency in the United States through the Fulbright-Masaryk Fellowship, giving lectures and performances in New York and across several American states. Since autumn 2024, he has been teaching cello at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno.

A winner in numerous international competitions, Tomáš Jamník has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Czech Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Córdoba Symphony Orchestra, and Philharmonia Orchestra London. He partners with Jan Fišer and Ivo Kahánek forming the Dvořák Trio. As a chamber musician, he has performed at prestigious venues including Rudolfinum in Prague, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall in London, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, NOSPR in Katowice, Mozarteum in Salzburg, and Kitara Hall and Tokyo Metropolitan Hall in Japan.

Beyond the traditional repertoire, Tomáš Jamník is dedicated to reviving lesser-known works and has premiered numerous compositions by Czech contemporary composers. He is also the originator of the Vážný zájem (literally Serious Interest) initiative, which has facilitated hundreds of intimate home concerts. Additionally, he serves as the Artistic Director of the Chamber Academy Central Bohemia and is the founder and Artistic Director of Ševčík Academy in Horažďovice.

source: Agentura Makropulos

The indisputable winner of the Grand Prix at the 2016 International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, Lukáš Vondráček’s 2023/24 season highlights include a tour with Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša in Boston, as well as returns to long term partners such as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Janacek Philharmonic.

Following recent appearances at the Flanders Festival, the “Le Piano Symphonique” Festival, and the Weiwuying International Festival in Taiwan, recital engagements have taken him to the ”Chopin and his Europe” Festival in Warsaw and the Piano Loop Festival in Split.

Over the last decade, Lukáš Vondráček has travelled the world working with various orchestras such as the Philadelphia and Sydney Symphony orchestras, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic and the Netherlands Philharmonic orchestras under conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Jakub Hrůša, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Pietari Inkinen, Vasily Petrenko, Anu Tali, and Stéphane Denève, among many others.

Recitals have led him to Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Flagey in Brussels, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and to renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad, PianoEspoo in Finland, Prague Spring Festival, and Lille Piano Festival.

At the age of four, Lukáš Vondráček made his first public appearance. As a fifteen-year-old in 2002, he made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, which was followed by a major US tour in 2003. His natural and assured musicality and remarkable technique have long marked him out as a gifted and mature musician. He has achieved worldwide recognition by receiving many international awards, foremost first prizes at the Hilton Head and San Marino International Piano Competitions and Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

After finishing his studies at the Academy of Music in Katowice and the Vienna Conservatoire, Lukáš Vondráček obtained an Artist Diploma from Boston's New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen, graduating with honours in 2012.

source: Harrison Parott

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.