Czech Center New York presents a concert of this year's festive season. The first part of the evening will be dedicated to opera music, the second will offer famous musical tunes and Christmas carols. The evening will feature mezzosoprano Markéta Cukrová, and pianists Isabel Keleti and Francesco Pollon, and violoncellist Tomáš Jamník as guests.
Registration here.
On the occasion of the festive season, the Czech Center New York will light up its traditional Christmas tree celebrating the Czech glass-making. This time with the handmade Christmas ornament collection of blown glass beads, made by family company Rautis from Poniklá, which was inscribed in 2020 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO).
The winery Spěvák will provide genuine hot wine tasting.
Special thanks goes to CK America Tours company, and also to The Association of Free Czechoslovak Sportsmen.
In collaboration with Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association (BBLA) and Dvořák American Heritage Association (DAHA).
Mezzosoprano Markéta Cukrová belongs to the most sought-for Czech soloists in the field of historically informed music. Her name is to be frequently found in the programs of Baroque oratorio and opera, chamber music and lieder recitals, as well as those of living composers.
She regularly appears at the most distinguished festivals of differing genres (Prague Spring Festival, Laus Polyphoniae, La Chaise-Dieu, Sable, Europalia, Prague Summer Festival, Brugge and Utrecht Early Music Festivals, St.Venceslas Festival, Miami Tropical Baroque, Musikverain Wien, Schleswick-Holstein Festival, Trionale). She has particiated in more than twenty recording projects, among others Officium Defunctorum and Missa Votiva/Jan Dismas Zelenka/Collegium 1704, Missa Nativitatis Domini/Zelenka/Musica Florea, Missa D-major/Antonín Dvořák/Ensemble Inégal, Moravian Duets/Dvořák, Stabat Mater/Ryba/L’armonia terrena.
In 2018, Markéta has been nominated for opera awards Thalia and Jantar for her exceptional creation in K. Saariaho L’amour de Loin and Britten The Rape of Lucretia.
Tomáš Jamník is a Czech cellist, currently residing in Berlin. Recognized for his in-depth knowledge of each performed piece, attention to detail, and strong interest in bringing less-well-known music to a wider audience, Tomáš has established himself as a celebrated soloist in both classical and contemporary music.
In 2006, he won the Prague Spring International Music Competition and was awarded a number of special prizes, including the Czech Radio Prize, the Oleg Podgorny Prize, the Gideon Klein Foundation Prize, the Pro Harmonia Mundi Foundation Prize and the Artist’s Life Foundation Prize. He was also a finalist at the Pierre Fourniere Award 2011 in London.
Isabel Keleti, a young and talented pianist originally from Kansas, studied at Mannes School of Music in New Yorku, where Bohuslav Martinů used to teach. She features regularly Mannes Sounds Festival at Czech Center New York. She spent the last year on a Fulbright stipend, studying with Professor Jan Jiraský at the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno.
Francesco Pollon is a pianist, composer and educator born in Treviso, Italy. He has been on stage as a musician since the age of fifteen, performing throughout all of Italy and in Poland, United States, Croatia, Romania, Qatar, Israel, and Palestine. Francesco received his Master’s Degree in Jazz Piano Performance summa cum laude from the Conservatory of Vicenza in 2018. In September 2021, Francesco started his studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2019, he received the Best Instrumentalist Award at Sibiu Jazz Competition.
