Trinity College Chapel Cambridge, Uk
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE CZECH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC ORCHESTRA TRINITY COLLEGE CHAPEL CAMBRIDGE, UK THE CONCERT IS HELD UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF MR. LIBOR SEČKA, CZECH AMBASSADOR TO THE UK, MS DENISE WADDINGHAM, THE DIRECTOR OF BRITISH COUNCIL CZECH REPUBLIC, AND MR. GUY ROBERTS, THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE PRAGUE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY BY KIND PERMISSION OF THE MASTER AND FELLOWS OF TRINITY COLLEGE. THE CZECH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY CONCERT IN PRAGUE (CTU) PROGRAMME is one of the biggest and oldest technical The concert will be introduced by Vojtěch universities in Europe. It was founded on Petráček, rector of the Czech Technical the initiative of Josef Christian Willenberg University in Prague and Nick Kingsbury, on the basis of a decree issued by Emper- Professor of Signal Processing of the Uni- or Josef I. on January 18th, 1707. versity of Cambridge, Dept of Engineering. CTU currently has eight faculties (Civil En- Jean-Joseph Mouret gineering, Mechanical Engineering, Elec- Fanfares trical Engineering, Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering, Architecture, Trans- Jan Dismas Zelenka portation Sciences, Biomedical Engineer- Salve Regina ing, Information Technology) and about 16,000 students. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Gallimathias Musicum For the 2018/19 academic year, CTU of- fers its students 169 study programmes Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and 480 fields of study within these pro- The Nutcracker grammes. CTU educates modern spe- cialists, scientists and managers with Francois Doppler knowledge of foreign languages, who are Andante and Rondo dynamic, flexible and able to adapt rap- idly to the requirements of the market. Bedřich Smetana Waltz No. 1 CTU currently occupies the following po- sitions according to QS World University Antonín Dvořák Rankings, which evaluated more than Biblical Songs No. 4, 3, 10 4700 universities worldwide: CTU is 531st to 540th globally in this year’s QS World Antonín Dvořák University Rankings, and 9th in the Emerg- Slavonic dance No. 8 ing Europe and Central Asia region. SOLOISTS: For Civil and Structural Engineer- Rachel Godsill – soprano ing – 151st to 200th position; Mechani- Simon Godsill – organ cal, Aeronautical and Manuf. Engineer- ing – 201st to 250th position; Computer Anna Michalcová – fl ute Science and Information Systems – 251st Krištof Pučejdl – fl ute to 300th position; Electrical and Elec- tronic Engineering – 201st to 250th posi- ORCHESTRA: tion; Mathematics – 301st to 350th posi- Czech Technical University in Prague tion; Physics and Astronomy – 201st to Academic Orchestra 250th position; Natural Sciences – 283rd position; Architecture/Built Environ- CONDUCTOR: ment – 150th to 200th position, and En- Jan Šrámek gineering & Technology – 256th position. Ladies and Gentlemen, This year, we are able to repay the visit to Prague of musicians from Cambridge for I am very pleased to have the honour to wel- a second time. We are bringing the music come you here in the magnifi cent spaces of of major Czech and world composers. That Trinity College Chapel for a concert of the is a fi tting description of Bedřich Smetana, Academic Orchestra of the Czech Techni- Antonín Dvořák, Jan Dismas Zelenka, Jean- cal University in Prague. The idea of holding Joseph Mouret, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this concert arose in the spring of last year, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Francois Dop- when we decided, together with students pler. I am also pleased that our orchestra and members of the orchestra, to repeat will be supplemented by the soprano, Ra- the highly successful concert from 2013, chel Godsill, and by the organist, Simon which was held in the Emmanuel United Godsill. I wish our musicians and all of you Reformed Church. On that occasion, we a beautiful and memorable concert. were following up on year 2006, when we had invited the orchestra and choir of the Finally, I would like to thank everyone who Cambridge Philharmonic Society to Prague has contributed to the organisation of this within the framework of the 300th anniver- concert, and particularly Professor Nick sary of our technical university, and within Kingsbury, an honorary doctor of the Czech the framework of our contacts with the De- Technical University in Prague. partment of Engineering at Cambridge Uni- versity. Their music rang out with great suc- Vojtěch Petráček, Rector cess in the Prague Rudolfi num and in the Czech Technical University in Prague Bethlehem Chapel. ABOUT THE PROGRAMME The programme of the Academic Orches- is represented by Tchaikovsky and the fa- tra off ers some veritable treasures of Czech mous music from his ballet, the Nutcracker. and world music. Jan Dismas Zelenka is The outstanding chamber treatment off ers one of the most signifi cant of all baroque colourful instrumentation that delights the composers. His complex counterpoint and ears of the audience. Flute solos will be harmonic inventiveness are still studied by heard in the virtuoso composition of Franz prospective composers. Classicism is rep- Doppler. Smetana and Dvořák set up a wor- resented by Mozart’s Gallimathias, which thy fi nale for the concert programme. Smet- off ers as it were a scrapbook of Mozart’s ana is above all a national composer, while best musical motifs, which he later worked Dvořák is one of the most important com- into extensive compositions. Romanticism posers of all time. ABOUT THE ORCHESTRA The CTU Academic Orchestra is a unique renowned professional musicians. In 2013, musical body in the Czech Republic, which the orchestra visited the University of Cam- gives an opportunity to students from CTU bridge with its ‘Jewels of Czech Music’; and other universities to express their mu- a varied selection of pieces from famous sical talents in a friendly and noncompeti- Czech composers. After a joint concert in tive setting. The orchestra is conducted by 2016 with Collegium Musicum – a visit- Jan Šrámek, an experienced musician and ing student orchestra from RWTH, Aachen professional conductor. The orchestra per- – which took place in Prague, the CTU Or- forms regularly in the Bethlehem Chapel in chestra was invited to perform in Aachen in Prague and also takes its multi-genre rep- 2017, marking another successful interna- ertoire to other domestic and foreign con- tional appearance. Two domestic concerts cert halls and stages. stand out in 2018, in which Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony and W. A. Mozart’s To produce the most exciting performanc- Requiem were played. es, the orchestra often collaborates with ABOUT THE CONDUCTOR JAN ŠRÁMEK In 1988 and 1989, Jan Šrámek led the viola section, studied, and was a sound engi- graduated from the Prague Conservatoire, neer with the Nova Filarmonia Portuguesa focusing on the viola in the class of Prof Ja- Orchestra in Lisbon. In 2001, he received roslav Ruis. He studied conducting under an award at the international Masterplay- Prof M. Klemens and later under A. Rosen. ers Music and Conductors Competition in In 1996, he began conducting the Musici Lugano, Switzerland. He is frequently in- de Praga, a well-established orchestra with vited to feature as a guest conductor with a long tradition. Since then, he has per- other orchestras in the Czech Republic formed frequently in the Dvorak Hall at the and abroad (Moravian Philharmonic Olo- Rudolfi num in Prague and at other concert mouc, North-Bohemian Philharmonic Tep- halls in the Czech Republic and abroad. lice, Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice, Since 1998 he has been the chief conduc- Vogtland Philharmonie, etc.). tor of SYRINX – Czech Chamber Philhar- monie, whose members are mainly drawn In 2006, Jan Šrámek performed at a festi- from the Czech Philharmonic (CD – Vivaldi val in Hot Springs (Arkansas, USA), where 6 concertos for fl ute and orchestra, op. 10, he worked with an orchestra made up of fl ute – Žofi e Vokálková, HLM Records (the young musicians. An opportunity to work Netherlands) – this record received a spe- with young musicians, including ama- cial prize for interpretation at the Web teurs, came to fruition in 2007, when the Concert Hall awards in New York). CTU Academic Orchestra was formed. THE CONCERT SOLOISTS RACHEL GODSILL Born in Yorkshire, UK, Rachel Godsill be- gan her singing in the local parish church choir. She read music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where she was a Choral Exhi- bitioner, and was a prize-winning student at the Royal College of Music. Recent highlights have taken her to Bu- dapest, Erfurt and Berlin for recitals of music for voice and viola d’amore, and to Beijing and Shanghai for performances of Britten’s Peter Grimes and War Req- uiem (Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, London Voices). In 2018 she performed in Beethoven’s Fidelio (RFH) with the Lon- don Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the South Bank’s Belief and Beyond Be- lief festival. Rachel’s oratorio repertoire encompasses Bach and Handel through Mozart and Ross- ini to Tippett and Orff. Last season includ- ed performances of Carmina Burana and Poulenc‘s Gloria (University concert hall, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon), Han- del’s Messiah (Choir 2000), Shakespeare settings by Finzi, Gurney and Cecilia Mac- Dowell (Church of King Charles the Mar- tyr, Tunbridge Wells, Corpus Christi, Cam- bridge), and performances of Schumann’s Song Album for the Young ( Hughes Hall, Cambridge, Stapleford Granary). Rachel is equally at home with contem- porary repertoire, and many pieces have been especially composed for her. She has performed Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone in the Barbican, UK and in the Lin- coln Centre, New York under the direction of Peter Sellars, works by Lutoslawski and Penderecki at the Lugano Music Festival with Terry Edwards, and can be heard on the soundtrack of many films, including Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Star Wars and Beauty and the Beast! She is a member of the duo Sopriola. Within ensembles Rachel has worked with Richard Hickox, Simon Rattle, Roger Nor- rington, Emmanuelle Haim, Charles Mack- erras, Ivan Fischer, and Vladimir Jurowski, performing with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, European Voices, Col- legium Musicum 90, Le Concerts d’Astre, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The SIMON GODSILL Schutz Choir, London Voices and The Acad- emy of Ancient Music.