Palacký University in Olomouc Celebrates its 450th Anniversary. The celebrations will take place in the Bohemian National Hall on October 22, 2023. The evening’s program will feature a piano recital by renowned Czech pianist David Kalhous.
Program of the evening:
Short film about Palacký University
Opening remarks by Miroslav Konvalina, director of the Czech Center New York
US & Czech National anthems - performerd by Jana and Markéta Hejdovy
Welcome note of Michal Kaplan, Deputy Consul General of the Czech Republic in New York
Speech by Martin Procházka, President of Palacký University
Talk with Martin Procházka, Bohdan Pomahač, Bryon Grigsby and Michelle Simoneau. Moderated by Jiří Stavovčík
Performance of cellist Zhihao Wu and pianist Isabel Keleti: Leoš Janáček - Pohádka (Fairytale)
Piano recital of David Kalhous
Celebratory glass of wine
Piano Recital of David Kalhous
The recital will be approximately 45 minutes in duration
More about the 450th Anniversary of Palacký University in Olomouc here.
Registration here.
Program:
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in C Major, K. 159
Sonata in F Minor, K. 183
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Variations in F Major, Op. 34
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Sonata 1. X. 1905 I. Předtucha (Presentiment)
II. Smrt (Death)
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Ballade in F Minor, Op. 52
Approx. duration of the concert 45 min
Message of Martin Procházka, President of Palacký University:
"Dear Students, Colleagues, and Friends of Palacký University,
You are holding in your hands a special edition of our university magazine, another tile in the colourful mosaic of our alma mater’s jubilee this year. The university has been a part of Olomouc now for 450 years. Our alma mater was here before us, she’s here with us now, and she will still be here after we’re gone. The university represents a fixed star, one we can guide ourselves by; it is also a solid anchor we can hold on to: a certainty, something we seldom encounter in life. We are lucky that we can be a part of it, and thus meet in time and space.
Celebrations of our jubilee are in full swing. We already have a number of events behind us to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Olomouc’s university, and more await us. The two main lines to which we are referring during the celebrations are its Jesuit founders, and the personality of historian and National Revivalist František Palacký, after whom the modern university was renamed. We are taking advantage of this historic opportunity to highlight this important figure in Czech history, the Father of the Nation – a hard-working, talented, and knowledge-hungry young man – who could serve as an inspiration for the current generation of students.
That diligence and desire for education was there at the very start of Olomouc higher education, when the Jesuit efforts to spread education throughout the world led to founding the second oldest university in the Czech lands. Recently, when I came across the footsteps of those Jesuit missionaries who studied in Olomouc on the opposite side of the globe, it made me fully realise how each year, we send thousands of our graduates out into the world, who then successfully develop their knowledge and skills in the most diverse fields and in the most diverse places. They help to spread the good name of our university, from whence they came, and which has become part of their lives forever. Their anchor, and their fixed star. Certainty.
I believe UP will remain so, for at least another four hundred and fifty years; and even better, that Olomouc will always be a university town."
Photo credit © Vojtěch Duda
