Although Vivi belongs to the youngest generation of pianists and has only been playing the piano for four years, she has achieved promising success. She performed at the Golden Prague International Television Festival and, as the youngest participant, began honing her skills this year at the MenArt scholarship academy under Ivo Kahánek's guidance. Her strengths, evident from an early age, include a very serious, almost professional approach to study, an unusual performance consistency given her age, and a specific stage presence.

source: Vivi Nguyen

Magdaléna Kovářová ranks among promising young piano talents with a string of awards from prestigious competitions at home and abroad. She began collecting her first competition successes at the age of eight. Since then her path has led from national competitions to international distinctions and to appearances at major festivals and in concert halls including Prague’s Rudolfinum and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Magdaléna won first prize at the Debussy International Music Competition and took victory in the Irvine International Music Competition. She developed her talent and discipline at the MenART scholarship academy and through close collaboration with pianist Lukáš Vondráček.

In addition to solo recitals Magdaléna has performed at festivals such as Prague Spring, Smetana’s Litomyšl, and the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival. She has also worked abroad completing masterclasses and giving concerts in Brussels the United States and Vietnam.

In 2021 the young pianist received an award from the City of Hlučín as an outstanding cultural figure.

source: Magdaléna Kovářová

Valentýna Ibriqi has been playing the piano under Ellina Belčiková since the age of eight and she quickly drew attention to herself with a number of exceptional results.

At the age of nine, she received the first prize in the Young Pianists Play Steinway & Sons competition, at which she became the absolute winner one year later. Since then, she has made her mark at the most prestigious national and international piano competitions, where she has repeatedly won the first prize, the absolute victory or special prizes awarded by the expert juries. She is a laureate of the Beethoven Teplice, Prague Junior Note, Broumov Key, Amadeus, Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte and the Smetana International Piano competitions and has successfully represented the Czech Republic on stages in Belgium, North Macedonia, Great Britain and the USA. She has performed in the Senate of the Czech Republic, at the Rudolfinum and at the Dvořák Prague, Prague Spring and Smetanova Litomyšl festivals. She has also collaborated with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra. She is a laureate of the Golden Nut Award from both the Central Bohemian Region and the Czech Republic.

source: Concertino Praga

photo © Adriana Orálková

Despite her young age, Nora Lubbadová has built a reputation as one of the most promising young piano talents in the Czech Republic. She has consistently demonstrated her extraordinary gift from early childhood to the present, as evidenced by numerous awards from prestigious competitions in her age category.

In her studies, she stands out due to a rare combination of spontaneous emotionality and stage presence, coupled with the ability to work systematically and diligently with great respect for her teachers. Throughout her artistic journey, she has performed solo not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad, including in Helsinki, Belgrade, and Kragujevac. She also gave a concert in Brussels under the patronage of the Karel Komárek Family Foundation. Since September 2024, she has been studying at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Professor Ivo Kahánek, under whose guidance she achieved outstanding results in her first semester.

Nora became a laureate of the prestigious Concertino Praga competition, where she delivered a brilliant interpretation of Grieg’s Piano Concerto at Dvořák Hall in Rudolfinum. She also made a significant impression in the Showcase competition finals, where she successfully performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in the Church of St. Simon and Jude.

Beyond competitions, she continually improves her skills under the guidance of world-class piano masters. She has attended masterclasses with Daniel Blumenthal in Brussels and Stephen Kovacevich in Lucerne. Her exceptional talent has also been recognized at a global level — among 252 young pianists from around the world, she was selected as one of 42 competitors who qualified for the Aarhus International Piano Competition in Denmark, taking place in March 2025.

Her inclusion in the Pianos for Schools program, which supports young talents, helps her further develop professionally and provides her with the essential opportunity to regularly compete with international rivals — a crucial necessity for her future career at this level.

source: Nora Lubbadová

Adam Znamirovský began playing the piano spontaneously at the age of four. Since seven he has been winning prizes at national and international competitions. He can be regarded as the most compelling piano talent in the under-15 category in the Czech Republic. His clear achievements include a concert in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum where he performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Elias Grandy. Among his other successes is study at the Verbier Festival Academy where he received the Edwin Caplin Foundation Award for top students. Adam is a MenART scholarship holder in the studio of Ivo Kahánek with whom he also studied at the Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž.

source: Adam Znamirovský

photo © Tom McKenzie

Artium by KKCG is a publicly accessible space for art of all genres, breathing artistic life into Bořislavka and enriching the cultural offerings in Prague 6 and the capital more generally. Artium regularly holds exhibitions, concerts, and other cultural events, and the unconventional space allows visitors to explore art across different genres, often intertwined to create a unique experience. During this year’s Dvořák Prague International Music Festival’s concerts at Artium, spectators can also enjoy an extensive exhibition of photographic installations by Jarmila Štuková titled "Us and the Others."

The concerts presented here as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival are organized for a good cause, with all proceeds supporting talented, young musicians.