Chelsea Music Festival, in collaboration with Czech Center New York, will present music of American composer with Czech heritage Jakub Beránek, who was recently commissioned by the Chelsea Music Festival to compose a piece of music with Czech words to celebrate The Year of Czech Music.
His piece, scored for soprano, clarinet, cello, and piano and titled "Co Bůh? Člověk?” will be premiered at the Bohemian National Hall on June 26, 2024 at 7:00 pm.
"The text I chose for my piece is a set of excerpts from the 17th-c. poem “Co Bůh? Člověk?” by Bedřich Bridel. I had never heard of this author before, but his story and work moved me. He clearly seems to have been a significant figure in the literary and religious history of the Czech lands. It is amazing to me that he was writing profound, mystical, lyric poetry in Czech at a time when the language of the Church was Latin and the language of business was German! The poem strikes me as a sort of mix between the Psalms and the Songs of Solomon, entirely rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition."
About Chelsea Music Festival
The Chelsea Music Festival’s 15th season presents “Connecting the Dots”, which traces how music and art allows us to touch what seems intangible,repair what seems broken, and reimagine our interconnectedness with one another.
The festival focuses on the restorative powers of the arts as its organizers examine ways that music and art both calm and reinvigorate the brain and nervous system. They will also explore together various neurological challenges and changes we can encounter in ourselves and our loved ones.
More about Chelsea Music Festival
There will be two concerts that will take place an the Bohemian National Hall:
Concert Midsummer Night Magic — Visions & Stories on Tuesday, June 25 at 7 pm More info here Concert Completed Resonances — Vu, Beranek, Fauré & Smetana on Wednesday, June 26 at 7 pm More info here
You can get 15% discount with the code CMF2024CCNY.
Jacob Beranek (b. 1998) is an American composer and pianist of Czech heritage, currently pursuing his Doctorate of Music at The Juilliard School in New York City. His compositions, hailed as “refreshingly upbeat and infectiously melodic” (Fanfare), are infused with his love of craft and traditions—musical, religious, or even his Czech heritage.
In 2018, Beranek was honored by the American Ambassador to the Czech Republic following a performance of his music by the Czech president’s band, Hudba Hradní stráže a Policie České republiky, during the centenary celebrations of the First Czechoslovak Republic in Prague Castle’s Spanish Hall. The following year, Oxford University programmed his music for a concert remembering Prague Spring. In 2021, Beranek was commissioned to compose a virtuoso piano solo on South Bohemian folksongs, which he premiered at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, IA. In 2023, Mikel Toms and the Filharmonie Brno released a recording of his Pilgrimatic Overture as part of ABLAZE Records’ ninth “Orchestral Masters” album.
A recipient of the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, Beranek received his Bachelor of Music from Vanderbilt University and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School. He also studied piano and composition privately in Prague with Radoslav Kvapil and Juraj Filas, respectively. In addition to his compositions, Beranek is a dedicated scholar of Czech music and has written and lectured on the music of Bohuslav Martinů. Learn more at www.BeranekMusic.com.
