Programme

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite No. 3 , BWV 1009,  I. Prelude

Robert Schumann: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129, I. Nicht zu schnell

Fryderyk Chopin: Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2 in E flat Major

Vítězslav Novák: Memories, Op. 6, No. 2, Inquieto

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Six moments musicaux, Op. 16, No. 4 in E Minor

Oskar Böhme: Trumpet Concerto in F Minor, Op. 18

Henri Dutilleux Sarabande et cortège

Carl Maria von Weber Andante e Rondo ungarese

The rising generation of instrumental virtuosos will take the stage in the chamber space of Suk Hall. Being part of a major festival is an exceptional opportunity for young musicians, allowing them to step naturally into the professional performing arts world. Audiences used to star-studded line-ups are often surprised how a surge of energy can bring a fresh glow to even the most familiar and beloved works. Cello, trumpet, piano and bassoon – which already promise a lively and varied sound – are further enriched by a colourful range of styles, from Baroque and Impressionism to Neoclassicism. The intimate setting of Suk Hall, moreover, will create a closer connection between the music and the audience than most renowned festival venues allow.

Performers

Naďa Strnadová

Naďa Strnadová is in the first year of Professor Petr Nouzovský’s violoncello course at the Prague Conservatory. She transferred to the conservatory from the Grammar and Music School of the City of Prague, where she studied under the leadership of Professors Mirko and Martina Škampa. She regularly participates in violoncello competitions. Her successes include: the first prize at the Jan Vychytil International Violoncello Competition (2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023), the first prize at the Gustav Mahler International Violoncello Competition in Jihlava (2019) and the second prize at the Heran violoncello competition in v Ústí nad Orlicí (2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024). She has had the opportunity to play as a soloist at a number of concerts: at the Zlatá Pecka music festival in cooperation with Dagmar Pecková and Klára Gibišová, at a concert of the graduates of the Visegrad Music Youth Academy (accompanied by Miriam Rodriguez Brüllové), at concerts for the best Czech participants at the 26th and 28th annual Heran violoncello competitions, at concerts for the winners of the 16th and 17th years of the violoncello competition (2022 and 2023) and at the concert of the Heran violoncello competition laureates held under the auspices of the Smetana’s Litomyšl festival.

Valentýna Ibriqi

Valentýna Ibriqi, born in 2012, began playing the piano at the age of eight under the guidance of Ellina Belčikova. Just a year later, she won first prize in the competition Young Pianists Play Steinway & Sons, and the following year she became the competition’s overall winner. Numerous national and international prizes soon followed, including first prizes at the International Smetana Piano Competition, the Peter Toperczer International Piano Competition in Košice, the Broumov Keyboard International Piano Competition, the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, the Amadeus International Piano Competition, the Golden Piano Talents International Competition, and the Virtuosi per Musica di Pianoforte International Competition, among many others. In recent years, Valentýna has enhanced her education through participation in the MenArt mentoring programme, organised by the Magdalena Kožená Endowment Fund. She has also attended the International Summer Piano Courses at the Prague Conservatoire, studying with Milan Langer.

Jaromír Češek

Jaromír Češek was born in 2007 in Kroměříž. From an early age, he showed a great interest in music and began studying piano and trumpet at the Primary Art School in Bystřice pod Hostýnem at the age of six. He twice won the national round of the ZUŠ (Primary Art School) competition in trumpet, earning the title of absolute winner. He received the same honour in the Junior category of the Brno International Brass Competition. At the ages of twelve and fourteen, he appeared as a soloist with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in Zlín, performing trumpet concertos by Alexander Arutiunian and Joseph Haydn. Since 2023, he has been studying trumpet at the P. J. Vejvanovský Conservatoire in Kroměříž. In his first year, he competed in the oldest age category at the Brno International Brass Competition, winning first prize. He was also named absolute winner of the national conservatoire competition Pardubické dechy. In March 2025, he advanced to the second round of the international wind instrument competition in Varaždin, Croatia, as one of six selected participants. He regularly takes part in trumpet masterclasses.

Levente Bubreg

Levente Bubreg was born into an Austrian-Hungarian musical family in 2008. He started playing the bassoon at the age of eight. He has been studying under Daniel Muleri at the Tyrol State Conservatory and Dag Jensen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich since 2018. He debuted as a soloist with the StringSZ orchestra at the age of eleven. He has been awarded the Rotary Music Promotion Award. He received the Ignaz Pleyel Prize at the ISA International Summer Academy. He was the absolute winner and also received two special prizes at the 12th year of the international Premio Crescendo Competition in Italy in 2023. He has also received the special Tyrol Prize for Instrumental Classical Music. In the summer of last year, he participated in a renowned festival in Verbier, Switzerland as a bassoonist in the VFJO Junior Orchestra and the Camerata Prima Vienna orchestra, which presents a selection of the most talented young musicians and is sponsored by the Wiener Philharmoniker. The acme of his activities this year involves a performance on stage at the Salzburg Festival–summer 2025.

Stanislav Gallin

Stanislav Gallin studied at the Music Grammar School in St. Petersburg, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He furthered his education through a study stay at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and participated in numerous masterclasses, including with Lazar Berman.

He has performed on concert stages not only in the Czech Republic and Russia, but also across Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa. As a soloist, he has appeared with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the PKF – Prague Philharmonia, and the Bruno Walter Symphony Orchestra, among others.

He collaborates with conductors such as Tomáš Brauner, Jack Martin Händler, Jakub Hrůša, Vahan Mardirossian, Ondřej Vrabec, and Peter Vrábel.

Gallin is a founding member of Orbis Trio, which quickly rose to prominence among Europe's most successful ensembles of its generation. In 2009 alone, the trio won four international competitions, including the prestigious International Chamber Music Competition in Hamburg, Germany.

Since 2009, he has served as a lecturer in the Department of Piano Collaboration at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Place

Rudolfinum, Suk Hall

Suk Hall is the newest hall in the Neo-Renaissance Rudolfinum. It was created from 1940 to 1942 during modifications of the adjacent Dvořák Hall, as a smaller concert hall. In designing the interior decor architects Antonín Engel and Bohumír Kozák took inspiration from the original style of the Rudolfinum’s architects Josef Zítek and Josef Schulz, thus Suk Hall fits perfectly into the original composition of the building. During the most recent modifications in 2015, according to a design by architect Petr Hrůša, the acoustics of the hall and its connection to the Rudolfinum’s atrium were improved while respecting the historical value of these premises, protected as a historical landmark. Suk Hall has a new grand piano and continues to be intended mainly for performances of chamber music.