Finalists

Finalists of the Showcase of classical music 2022.

Thursday 9/22 – Rudolfinum (Dvorakova Praha festival)

Roxana Hädler studies at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts under the guidance of Jana Boušková, the principal harpist of the Czech Philharmonic. In the Erasmus Programme, she has also studied at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler under the important harpist Marie Graf. In 2014 she won second prize at the international competition in Sandstedt, Germany, and in 2015 and 2017 she was the winner twice consecutively of the Prof. Karel Patras International Harp Competition. In 2020 she won the audition to join the Czech Philharmonic Academy, and that September she won the position of principal harpist of the Hradec Králové Philharmonic. Then in 2022 she won the audition to join the Academy of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. She also works with many other Czech and foreign orchestras, but she devotes herself intensively to solo performing as well. At the opening concert of the Prague Harp Festival, she played as the “opening act” before the appearance of Anneleen Lenaerts, harpist of the Vienna Philharmonic, and she has been invited to appear with the Czech Trio. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Academy Chamber Orchestra.

Matteo Hager began playing violin at four years of age. He is now finishing his studies at the Grammar School and Music School of the City of Prague, and recently he received a talent scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has won several important awards including first prize at the J. Micka International Violin Competition (2017, 2019), first prize at the Václav Hudeček Academy (2019), and the gold medal at the Manhattan International Music Competition (2020). He has taken masterclasses with teachers including Augustin Hadelich, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Ivan Ženatý, and Dalibor Karvay. He has appeared as a soloist at the 2017 Prague Music Festival, the 2020 Pardubice Spring Music Festival, the festival Musica Holešov, and the 2020 Dvořák Prague International Music Festival. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic under the baton of Tomáš Netopil and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He has had the opportunity to appear together with artists including the violinists Václav Hudeček and Josef Špaček and the cellist Tomáš Jamník.

The cellist Dora Hájková studies at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts. At just 16 years of age, she made her solo debut at the Rudolfinum with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and also in a duo with the violinist Josef Špaček. She has won many international awards including prizes at the Janáček International Competition (Brno) and the Dotzauer International Violoncello Wettbewerb (Dresden). She collaborates with the Czech Sinfonietta and with other orchestras abroad such as the Webern Kammerphilharmonie, with which she recorded a live broadcast for the Austrian television network ÖRF, and the Bruno Walter Symphony Orchestra, with which she has made appearances including a performance at the famed Golden Hall in Vienna’s Musikverein at a jubilee concert for the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. She enjoys playing chamber music and belongs to several chamber ensembles, foremost among which is the string quartet Quarteto Harmonico. In 2020 she joined with David Mareček, a pianist and CEO of the Czech Philharmonic, in recording Debussy’s Cello Sonata for the Digital Hall of the Czech Philharmonic.

Miriam Magdalena Haniková studies violin at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts. She has won prizes at many competitions including first prize at the Jaroslav Kocian International Violin Competition in Ústí nad Orlicí. She was twice honoured at the Václav Hudeček Academy, and she appeared with Hudeček at Prague’s Žofín Palace at the Prague Music Festival. Following her success in 2016 at the Talents for Europe competition, a year later at the Beethoven’s Hradec International Violin Competition she won the Prize of the Silesian Cultural Foundation for the best Czech participant in the competition. In 2018 she won a prize at a music competition of the Czech Philharmonic held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the country’s independence. She has appeared as a soloist with the Janáček Philharmonic in Ostrava, the Žilina State Chamber Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, the chamber orchestra Ensemble 18+, and the CTU Academic Orchestra. She also plays chamber music, especially in a long-term collaboration with her sister the pianist Johanna Haniková, with whom she has appeared, for example, as part of the Prague Spring chamber cycle or at KPH concerts.

The clarinettist Anna Paulová is a graduate of the Prague Conservatoire and of Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts. She has won prizes at numerous national and international competitions, her greatest success being 2nd prize and the title of laureate at the 2015 Prague Spring International Music Competition in May. She specialises in music of the 20th and 21st centuries and especially the works of Czech composers. She has appeared as a soloist with many Czech and foreign orchestras including the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek. At present, she is collaborating with the pianists Daniel Wiesner, Marek Kozák, and Lukáš Klánský. She has appeared with Ivo Kahánek, Jan Mráček, Lubomír Brabec, Kristina Fialová, Petr Nouzovský, and Marek Šedivý. She has appeared at the festivals Talentinum, Young Prague, Prague Clarinet Days, Janáček May, Klasika Viva, Prague Music Festival, Czech Culture Festivities, Youth Stage (Mladé podium), Dvořák’s Turnov and Sychrov, Smiřice Music Festival, Slunohraní in Nové Město na Moravě, Clarimania, Villa Musica, Vremena Goda, and Autunno Musicale.

Matěj Pinkas studies at the Grammar School and Music School of the City of Prague in the studio of Prof. Lukáš Klánský. He has been a successful participant at several international competitions: Prague Junior Note 2017 – first prize, 2018 Broumov Piano Key– third prize, Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte 2018 – second prize, Beethoven’s Teplice 2019 – second prize. His most recent success was first prize at the 2019 International Competition for Young Instrumentalists in Povoletto, Italy. He has appeared as a soloist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble Giovani Archi di Praga, and the Bennewitz Quartet. He also has experience playing chamber music, often accompanying his father, the violist Jiří Pinkas. He takes part regularly at music courses and masterclasses with such figures as Garrick Ohlsson, Lukáš Vondráček, Yury Shadrin, Ivan Klánský, and Tomáš Víšek. During the 2021/2022 school year, he made a study visit to the USA, which he completed in June with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 accompanied by the Parkland High School Youth Symphony.

Vilém Vlček began playing cello at six years of age under Prof. Martin Škampa, and since 2018 he has been studying at the Musik-Akademie Basel in the studio of Danjulo Ishizaka. He has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras (including the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra) under the leadership of renowned conductors (Jiří Bělohlávek, Petr Altrichter, Jiří Rožeň, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt et al.). He has introduced himself to the public as a soloist in thirty countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas in important halls such as the Grand Hall of Hamburg’s Elbephilharmonie, the Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, Singapore’s Victoria Hall, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and Prague’s Dvořák Hall at the Rudolfinum. He takes part regularly in masterclasses at home and abroad (Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, Alisa Weilerstein, Tomáš Jamník et al.), and as a chamber music player he has gained valuable experience from several important musicians (Rainer Schmidt, Guy Braunstein, Peter Jarůšek, Alexander Gilman). Since 2021, he has been a member of the Kukal Quartet.

Friday 9/23 – Bohuslav Martinů Hall (HAMU)

Organist Alfred Habermann is a student of the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Prof. Jaroslav Tůma. This academic year, he is also studying at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. Since 2019, he has also been playing the harpsichord with Edita Keglerová at the Prague Conservatory. In 2013-2019, he studied with Prof. Josef Popelka at the organ department of the Prague Conservatory, where he also studied piano under Jana Macharáčková. He regularly participates in masterclasses with Wolfgang Zerer and Damiano Peretti, to name a few, and also supplements his education by exploring various instruments abroad. He has performed, for example, at the International Organ Festival in Uzhhorod, Vambeřice, Terezín, the Orlice-Kladsko Organ Festival, the Haydn Music Festival, and the Bach for All Festival. He has recorded compositions by J. C. F. Fischer and J. P. Sweelinck for Czech Radio. He works as an organist in Luka on Jihlava and Vysoké Studnice, where he comes from.

Natálie Hrdová started playing the clarinet at the age of eight, today she is a student of the Prague Conservatory and also a first-year student at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. She has received numerous national and international awards: 2nd prize at the Competition of Conservatories and Music High Schools in Teplice, 2nd prize at the Pro Bohemia Ostrava 2019 and Pardubice Winds in 2019. She won 1st prize at the Sava Dimitrov Competition 2020, as well as at the Polish OPUS 2021 International Music Competition, and the Serbian 2021 Constantine the Great Competition. In the fall of 2021, she won 1st prize and the title of absolute winner at the national competition Pardubice Winds. She participates in masterclasses, for example with clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann as part of the Prague Spring Festival, and with Rumy Balász, Hungarian clarinetist and Professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. He plays with conservatory students Štěpánka Andělová and Alexandr Beták in a wind trio called Trio Aerato. The ensemble won two 1st prizes at international competitions in 2021.

Violinist Eduard Kollert was not quite seven years old when he started studying at the Music School of the Capital City of Prague, and at the same time, he started to play the violin and piano with his parents. In just two years, he performed with great success as a soloist with the Prague Philharmonia. This was followed by an invitation from the Spanish Royal Family to perform at the Royal Palace of El Pardo. Today, he studies with Prof. Zakhar Bron at the Queen Sofia College of Music in Madrid. He has won prizes at many prestigious international competitions, such as Young Virtuosos (Sofia) and The Nutcracker (Moscow). He regularly performs at concerts and festivals in Europe, Russia, Jordan, and Japan at events such as Interlaken Classics, Bohuslav Martinů Days, and the Prague Spring. He collaborates with orchestras such as the Russian National Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (MRZE), Prague Philharmonia, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, etc. He also appears as a guest on many television and radio programs. In December 2020, he appeared on the TV show Virtuosos alongside Plácido Domingo.

Martin Kot has been playing the accordion since the age of six. He has won many competitions in the Czech Republic and abroad. Among others, in 2020, he won the 2nd place in the worldwide accordion competition Trophée Mondial de l'Accordéon 2020 Online (CMA) with the participation of 750 players from all over the world. Winning the American 2021 Protégé International Music Talent Competition earned him the opportunity to perform at the winners' concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. He had the opportunity to perform with the Brno Philharmonic, Václav Hudeček, Jaroslav Svěcený, and Lubomír Brabec. He is the recipient of the prestigious Golden Peanut Award, given to the most talented children in the Czech Republic. Since 2018, he has been a student of the Prague Conservatory. He has performed at many music festivals, such as the Stockholm Accordion Festival, the Znojmo Music Festival, and Concentus Moraviae. In September 2019, he performed as the first ever accordionist at one of the largest domestic classical music festivals, Dvořák's Prague. In the future, he will be touring Japan.

Clarinetist Gabriela Matoušková studies at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Prof. Milan Polák. She has attended several masterclasses, e.g. with Andrew Marriner, Sharon Kam, Wenzel Fuchs, and others. As part of the masterclasses at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien 2021, she was selected to perform at the isaFestival. She has won awards at numerous competitions. Concorso Internazionale per Clarinetto Carlino in 2018 (3rd prize), 2019 Pro Bohemia Competition (3rd prize), the Pardubice Conservatory Winds Competition in 2019 and 2021 (1st prize respectively), the Małopolska International Music Competition (2nd prize in the highest category), the 2022 Nouvelles Étoiles International Music Competition (1st prize). After placing in the international round of the Concertino Praga Competition in 2017, she took part in a concert tour of South Bohemia. She also plays chamber music in the Cortilia Quintet and in a duo with accordionist Martin Kot. She has performed as a soloist with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava and with the Band of the Castle Guards and the Police of the Czech Republic. She is a member of the orchestral academy of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Oboist Bohdana Tesařová studies at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Jan Thuri, and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Liběna Séquardtová. As a child, she performed at the Rudolfinum, the National Theatre, the Municipal House, the Estates Theater, the State Opera, and other important music halls. She won the first prize in the national competition of music schools and the highest rating of all age categories in the oboe (2012), became the absolute winner of the national competition of elementary schools (2015), won the first prize and the title of absolute winner at the competition of the Czech Philharmonic LFA (2017), and won the Enkore International Music Competition in the USA (2020). As a soloist, she has performed with the Zielona Góra Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland and the Dvořák Chamber Orchestra. She has also participated in the recording of television concerts and broadcasts, and performed in a chamber duo with her sister, violinist Pavla Tesařová. She is currently performing as a soloist with Oldřich Vlček's Virtuosi di Praga Orchestra, with whom she is going on tour to Japan in the fall.

Pavla Tesařová is a student of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Already at the age of nine, she played with the legendary Josef Suk in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle, and two years later at the Golden Prague Festival with Václav Hudeček. She has won many first prizes at national and international competitions, e.g. at Kocian Violin Competition, Talents for Europe, J. Muzika Competition, Concertino Praga, Orpheus, Pro Bohemia, France Music Competition, and Manhattan Music Competition. She has performed with many renowned orchestras such as the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, the Prague Philharmonia, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Zielona Gora Philharmonic, Dvořák Chamber Orchestra, and Virtuosi di Praga. She has given concerts under conductors such as Libor Pešek, Jan Talich, Tomáš Brauner, and Miriam Němcová. She performs in a duo with accordionist Markéta Laštovičková, and her sister Bohdana, an oboe player. She collaborates with contemporary composers (Jaroslav Krček, Jiří Teml) and with the Kühn Children's Choir. This year, she has also become the first violinist of the newly founded Ševčík Quartet.

Pianist and organist Vojtěch Trubač studies at the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU) in Prague. He is the winner of the Organum regium (2012) and Pro Bohemia (2018) organ competitions, as well as a finalist of the international organ competitions in Opava (2014) and Białystok (2017), Poland, where he was also awarded the special jury prize for the youngest participant. Among his greatest recent achievements are winning an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Prague Spring Piano Competition as well as winning the 2019 International Chopin Competition, and 2nd prize at the International Smetana Piano Competition in 2018. During his studies, he has participated in various performance courses under the guidance of renowned artists such as Olga Kern, Boris Giltburg, and Ivan Klánský. In the summer of 2021, he presented a piano recital at the 62nd Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně. He has appeared as a soloist with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, and the Pilsen Philharmonic. In 2020, he became a scholarship holder of the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe. He is also in demand as a chamber musician.

Saturday 9/24 – Bohuslav Martinů Hall (HAMU)

The Alinde Wind Quintet was founded in 2019 by young musicians in Prague. Its current members are Anna Talácková (flute), Barbora Trnčíková (oboe), David Šimeček (clarinet), Kryštof Koska (French horn), and Petr Sedlák (bassoon). The members studied at prestigious universities in London, Brussels, Ljubljana, Lyon, Prague, and Brno. Shortly after its formation, the ensemble won 1st prize at the International Music Competition in Bucharest. Soon they won 1st prize in chamber music at the ODIN International Music Competition and 3rd prize at the OPUS 2021 International Chamber Ensemble Competition. The members of the ensemble hold leading positions in prominent Czech and international orchestras. In the past, they gained their orchestral experience in the renowned youth orchestras, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and European Union Youth Orchestra. As soloists, they have won awards in many international and national competitions - the Prague Spring International Music Competition, the International Competition in Chieri, and the Pro Bohemia Ostrava International Competition.

The musical trio ConTRIOlogy, consisting of dulcimer, accordion, and vocals was founded in 2016 at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. The group focuses on the interpretation of contemporary classical music and free improvisation. The trio actively collaborates with both the established and emerging generations of Czech and Slovak composers, whose compositions are on the border of classical music, jazz, and improvisation. Žaneta Vítová graduated from the Prague Conservatory and holds several awards in solo and chamber music, teaches at the Kuřim Music School, and collaborates with the independent opera ensembles Opera Diversa and Hausopera. Singer Jana Vondrů graduated from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She has collaborated with several Czech theatres and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed at numerous music festivals including Opera JazzFestBrno. Michal Grombiřík graduated from Janáček Conservatory and the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno in music management. He is now studying jazz performance there. He has collaborated in concert with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava and Symfonica de Castellón.

Matěj Diviš graduated from the Conservatory in České Budějovice. At that time, he was already working externally with the South Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra, where he also performed as a soloist on vibraphone. In 2014-2015, he taught percussion instruments at the Primary School in Kaplice. Since 2015, he has been studying percussion instruments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Daniel Mikolášek, Radek Krampel, Pavel Polívka, Václav Mazáček, Ladislav Bilan, and Oleg Sokolov. In the spring of 2018, he had the opportunity to study Indonesian culture in Padang, West Sumatra, from where he brought back an instrument called talempong. This unique instrument is the only example in Central Europe. Between 2018 and 2019, he worked as a teacher at the International Conservatory in Prague. He applies his wide range of musical styles in his collaborations with many bands such as Excellent Trio, Znitra, Karelll, Country Beat, Michael Foret Band, and Botox. In recent years, his compositional work has focused on creating songs in the instrumental genres with a focus on percussion.

Composer and conductor David Lukáš studied conducting at the Pardubice Conservatory and later in Prague with Prof. Hynek Farkač. At the same time, he studied composition privately. In 2009, he became the chief conductor of the Bohemian Symphony Orchestra Prague, with whom he gave many successful concerts. The score of his Symphony No.1 Des Cauchemars et des Reves won the third prize at the International Gustav Mahler Composition Competition in Vienna in 2010. It was subsequently premiered by the ORF Symphony Orchestra at a concert in Graz, Austria. In November 2014, he won the prize of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra's chief conductor Jiří Bělohlávek for his composition The Birth of Light at the Czech Philharmonic Composition Competition. For the 2016 Prague Spring Violin Competition, he composed the compulsory composition Ballad of Nacken and the Violinist. His cycle Common Thyme for violin and piano was successfully premiered by Josef Špaček and Miroslav Sekera. In 2020, he completed a concerto for harp and orchestra, Song of Annual Rings, which was directly composed for harpist Jana Boušková.

The Prague Brass Quintet was established late in 2016 by top students from the brass department of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague under the artistic leadership of Jiří Novotný. The quintet’s greatest success has been victory as the 2019 Jeju International Brass & Percussion Competition. They also won a prize at the 2021 International Music Festival in Bucharest. The quintet’s members are Walter Hofbauer and Karel Hons on trumpet, Daniela Roubíčková on French horn, Barbora Kolafová on trombone, and Jakub Chmelař on tuba. At present, they are all full-time members of important Czech orchestras: the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Philharmonia, and the opera orchestras of the National Theatre in Prague and of the Prague State Opera. The ensemble appears regularly at festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad. In early 2021, as the Prague BRASStet they issued their debut CD titled JOY.

S.V.A. Trio is a formation of three renowned musicians with great multi-genre experience, who focus on original music. They are a unique and innovative ensemble on the Czech scene, reflecting common musical influences and responding to life inside the big city. They named their style "urban fusion". Violist Vladan Malinjak studied at the Pilsen Conservatory and the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the Unique Quartet. Cellist Šimon Marek is a graduate from the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. Although he studied mainly classical cello, after his studies, he has been active mainly on the popular, jazz, and alternative scene. In 2016, he founded his own multi-genre string quartet, the Unique Quartet. Violinist Alexey Aslamas graduated from the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts. In 2008-2011, he studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy Gstaad in Switzerland with Albert Lysy and Liviu Prunaru. He is also a graduate of conducting at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory.

Composer, conductor, and teacher Jiří Trtík studied composition and conducting at the Prague Conservatory, and philosophy at Charles University. In 2016, he received a scholarship to study composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the USA, and is a laureate of several international composition competitions. Since 2020, he has been teaching at the International Conservatory in Prague. His compositions have been premiered in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, Japan, Switzerland, and the USA. In 2021, he received the OSA Award for the most successful composer of classical music abroad. He has composed numerous works for international performers and ensembles, including members of the Lindemann Program of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, soloists of the Cleveland Orchestra, the Kühn Mixed Choir, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and the Grammy-winning Cleveland Chamber Orchestra. In 2020, he composed music for the film Wolves at the Borders (directed by Martin Páv), which premiered at the Vision du Reel documentary film festival in Switzerland. He regularly organizes benefit concerts.

Bassoonist Štěpán Vicenec graduated from the Brno Conservatory and continued his studies at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in the class of Roman Novozámský and Jaroslav Kubita. He is currently beginning his seventh semester of Bachelor studies at the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Bence Bogányi. He has won numerous awards in national and international competitions - 1st prizes at the Pro Bohemia International Competition Ostrava in 2015, at the international competition of wind instruments in Brno in 2017 and 2019, at the Pardubice Winds Competition, and at the Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf Competition in in Vidnava in 2017. He was awarded the title of absolute winner in the bassoon category at the 2018 Competition of Conservatories and Music Colleges in Teplice. He was a member of the Orchestral Academy of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and has had orchestral experience with the North Bohemian Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Czech Virtuosi, Slavonic Chamber Ensemble, Junge norddeutsche Philharmoniker, and Symphony Orchestra of India. He is currently a member of the bassoon section of the Slovak Philharmonic.