Looking back at the 2021 Concertino Praga South Bohemian Festival
The winners of the Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians paid a visit to South Bohemia for the fifty-third time. This year, the competition was simultaneously held in two categories, solo and ensemble, for the first time ever.
The traditional South Bohemian Festival, which has almost as long a tradition as the competition itself, followed the finale of the Concertino Praga. It was established just two years later and as such the Concertina Praga laureates are regularly hosted by Český Krumlov, Bechyně, Třeboň and Jindřichův Hradec.
The photographer Peter Ganzglück took the photos of the Concertino Praga laureates at the festival
Český Krumlov, Masquerade Hall
The atmosphere at the festival is always excellent. The children quickly make friends and this year it happened especially fast. After arriving in Jindřichův Hradec, they had a campfire over which they cooked sausages. The children immediately entered into a discussion. What about? Well, music; what else? That was all fine, but we appreciated it slightly more when the passionate football fan David Pěruška got out his football. Within 10 minutes, everybody was playing; the boys, the girls and those who had never played football before. It was clear that they would make a great group.
Třeboň, J. K. Tyl Theatre
We endeavoured to smuggle more “non-musical” events onto the program. For a while, the musicians were photographers, actors or creative people from an advertising agency. It was clear that they have playfulness to spare. We are sure that they all enjoyed the week in South Bohemia and that they had many (not only musical) experiences. But the participants at the South Bohemian Festival can best describe it themselves.
Ryan Martin Bradshaw, piano, 1st place in the solo category (Slovakia)
I am very happy that I was able to participate in the Concertino Praga competition, that I had the opportunity to play with a large orchestra and, of course, with an excellent conductor and to perform at the Rudolfinum for the first time. Thanks to Concertino, I received a number of new friends and the opportunity to play further concerts in South Bohemia.
Bence Bubreg, Trio INNsolitus, 2nd place in the chamber category (Austria)
The Concertino Praga South Bohemian Festival did not meet my expectations. Because it was much better than the previous ones (authors’ note: Bence Bubreg was at the festival for the third time). There were lots of wonderful, unbelievable musicians and we all made friends right from the very first meeting. The Czech Republic is beautiful, the concerts were great and everybody played wonderful pieces. Of course, we couldn’t omit the signature tune that we all played together. There is no better way of spending time at the beginning of the year than with musicians from all over the world.
Julia Charmuzsko, Veloce String Quartet, 1st class honorary mention in the chamber category (Poland)
I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived in Prague, but now I know that the Concertino Praga was one of the most beautiful and valuable experiences in my life. Playing and listening to the performances of the others was a great pleasure for me. They all remain in my memories. I consider the Concertino to be a truly inspirational experience not only for me as a musician, but also as a person.
The Czech Radio Vltava station recorded and broadcast all the concerts from the South Bohemian Festival. You can listen to them on our website.
Bechyně, Estate Bechyně
The South Bohemian festival included the “Echoes of Concertino Praga 2020” concert of the Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Foundation, where the foundation’s laureate, the Russian trumpeter Aleksandr Rublev, performed to the piano accompaniment of Maxim Averkiev.
Ozvěny Concertino Praga 2020
The 55th year of the Concertino Praga has finished and we are now looking forward to another year which will take place in the solo category. The competition conditions have already been published here.
Jindřichův Hradec, Knights' Hall
