Czech Music Council Awards

Prague, February 5, 2010. The Czech section of the International Music Council - Czech Music Council - has been annually awarding exceptional activities in the field of Czech music culture. The awards will go to Jana Semerádová for her creative and research activities with Collegium Marianum and conductor Peter Vrábel for his creative management of the BERG Orchestra on 12^th February 2010 and they will be incorporated in an orchestral concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Czech Music Council (CMC) is the Czech section of the International Music Council, an international NGO in formal associate relations with UNESCO. The Czech national centre unites 44 important professional associations. "The CMC Award is given out annually without differences in categories for life work or activities. The foreigners are awarded for promotion of Czech music abroad," explains Lenka Dohnalová, the secretary of CMC and she adds: "Lukáš Hurník, the president of CMC and I being the secretary of CMC will give out the awards after the interval." Musicologist Miloš Pokora and pianist Daniel Wiesner were awarded in 2008 and cembalist Zuzana Růžičková and Talent magazine received the award in 2007.

Jana Semerádová studied transversal flute at Prague conservatory and Birmingham conservatory as well as Baroque transversal flute with W. Hazelzet at Royal Conservatory in Hague. She graduated from Theory and practice of old music at the Faculty of Arts in Prague. She is a winner of international competitions in Magdeburg and München. She performs on important European stages and with other companies which deal with Baroque music, she teaches master courses in the Czech Republic and abroad. She continually deals with Baroque gestures and declamations and Baroque dance and she is an artistic director of Collegium Marianum. Vocational Týn school founded in 1990 with a residential company of Collegium Marianum significantly contributes to systematic education and attractive concert realization of so-called old music especially from Czech archives. It has established important professional and art contacts with foreign companies and institutions.

The international Summer Festivities of Old Music and Baroque Evenfalls with Jana Semerádová as a dramaturgist rank among the prestigious and much-frequented ones in this field.

Slovakian conductor, founder and artistic director of BERG Orchestra Peter Vrábel creates dramaturgic concepts of the company. BERG Orchestra was founded in 1996. Since then it has been a significant company that contributes to promoting the repertoire of 20^th century music in high-quality interpretation. Peter Vrábel collaborates with top contemporary Czech composers and young interpreters. He systematically enriches the company's repertoire with premiere works. He has recorded many pieces for Czech Radio, he is a guest in the National Theatre and he received Gideon Klein Award.