Mozart’s Requiem

Munich-based soprano Susanne Bernhard was trained at the Munich University of Performing Arts and has participated in many productions of the Bavarian Theatre Academy. As a young emerging talent she was encouraged by August Everding and in 1997 she made her debut as Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Prinzregententheater in Munich. Immediately after graduation she became a member of the Kiel Opera Company. She has been a guest artist at several opera houses, including the Frankfurt Opera and the Semperoper Dresden. She recently made her debut with the role of “Leonora” from Beethoven’s “Fidelio” at the Bregenz theatre under Karsten Januschke and also with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Markus Stenz.

As a concert singer she has worked with renowned conductors such as Enoch zu Guttenberg, Thomas Søndergård, Semyon Byčkov, Daniel Harding, Andrew Manze, Markus Poschner, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Ralf Otto, Yutaka Sado, Eiji Oue, Helmuth Rilling, Thierry Fischer, Marin Alsop, Marcus Bosch and Michael Sanderling.

Susanne Bernhard has repeatedly performed works by Richard Strauss, Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem”, Beethoven’s “Missa solemnis” and “Symphony No. 9” as well as works by Gustav Mahler and Antonín Dvořák with renowned orchestras and festivals. She has repeatedly collaborated with the Hannover Radio Philharmonic, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the OSESP Orchestra São Paulo and the Royal Liverpool Orchestra.

In March 2022 Susanne Bernhard made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim in Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem”. In June 2023, she appeared at the Prague State Opera with Schoenberg’s “Gurre-Lieder” under the baton of Peter Popelka.

Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Dresden Philharmonic (Andrew Manze), the Berlin Philharmonic Choir (Jörg-Peter Weigle), the Czech Philharmonic (Lukáš Vasilek) and a performance of Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto.

Her artistic activity is documented by numerous radio and CD recordings.

Mezzo-soprano and improviser Bella Adamova navigates through various musical periods, genres, and cultures with natural ease, but the focal point of her artistic interest is the song. Her repertoire ranges from the baroque to contemporary pieces (including works specifically written for her), encompassing German Lieder and Russian romances. With deeply and thoughtfully crafted song recitals, she has performed on significant stages and festivals such as Prague Spring, Heidelberger Frühling, St. Wenceslas Music Festival (SHF), Music is… Festival, and Villa Senar, the Swiss residence of Sergei Rachmaninov.

The young singer has won numerous awards at international competitions: together with pianist Malte Schäfer, they are laureates of the international Franz Schubert and Modern Music competition in Graz in the Lied duo category. She has also received the top prize in the International Robert Schumann Competition (2021), the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Prize at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin, the Czech Song Prize at the Emmy Destinn Awards in London, and the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Prize at the International Antonín Dvořák Competition. The BBC Music Magazine recently featured her as a rising star.

Bella sings and improvises in a duo with pianist Michael Gees, with whom she released their first joint album, Blooming in 2019. Their second CD titled There is home (2023) explores the concept of searching for home and defining this notion or feeling. The album introduces an unconventional concept where songs by Pavel Haas, Benjamin Britten, Gustav Mahler, and Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky freely intertwine and are organically interspersed with improvisations on selected poems.

Bella also dedicates herself to operatic and oratorio repertoire. In 2022, she won the main prize in the oratorio category at the International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. This season she will sing the alto solos in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) and Tomáš Brauner, de Falla’s El amor brujo with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic and Robert Kružík, and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. On the opera stages, she appears at Theater Bielefeld in Carmen as Mercédès, and at the National Theatre in Prague as the Third Woodsprite in a new staging of Rusalka (directed by the SKUTR duo/conductor Tomáš Netopil).

Bella Adamova was born in Grozny and grew up in Prague. She completed her musical studies in London, Cologne, Basel, and Hanover and received additional training at the Tanglewood Music Center, Royaumont Foundation, and Lied Basel. Bella had the privilege of learning from, amongst others, Anne Sofie von Otter, Christoph Prégardien, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Jan Philip Schulze, Dawn Upshaw, Christian Immler, and Kateřina Knežíková.Katerina Knežíková.

Tenor Raman Hasymau received his education in choral conducting at the Minsk Conservatory (2006-2010) and subsequently studied classical singing under Valentin Prolat at the Prague Conservatory (2014-2018). He continued his studies with Helena Kaupová at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (2018-2022). In 2023 he completed master classes in performance with Mariusz Kwiecien. He is constantly developing his singing skills under the guidance of Kateřina Kněžíková. At the Baroque Festival in Olomouc (2019, 2021) he performed the roles of General Parmenio in Alexandri Magni’s Lacrimae and Giovanni in Tomáš Hanzlík’s Pirates. As part of the Dvořák Prague International Festival (2021) he sang the roles of Dimitri in Dimitrij and George in Jacobin. In June 2023, he participated in the premiere of Requiem for Peace in Ukraine with the Olomouc Philharmonic. Since 2023, he has been a soloist of the Moravian Theatre Olomouc Opera, where in the 2023/2024 season he performed the roles of Turiddu in The Cavalier, Beppe in The Comedians, Ishmael in Nabucco and Jeník in The Bartered Bride. In the 2024/2025 season he will also be seen at the Estates Theatre in Prague and the Silesian Theatre in Opava. He has also performed at the Munich and Hamburg Philharmonics, the Berlin Konzerthaus and other venues in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium.

Baritone Radek Martinec graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Prof. Helena Kaupová. During his studies, he completed a one-year study internship at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw with Prof. Jadwiga Rappé. There, in cooperation with Teatr Wielki – Opera Narodowa, he performed the role of Marco in Puccini’s opera Gianni Schicchi, directed by Ewa Rucinska.

During his studies he became a laureate of several international competitions. He won the 1st prize in the Opera Hope category at the International Singing Competition A. Dvořák Competition in Karlovy Vary. His other competitive achievements include 1st place and the title of absolute winner at the Stonavská Barborka Vocal Ensemble Competition (2019) and 2nd place at the Dusek International Singing Competition (2021). In 2022 he won two 1st prizes at the International Competition A. Dvořák, in the Song and Junior categories.

From Karlovy Vary he took, besides the first prizes, the prize of the Governor of the Karlovy Vary Region and the prize of

Czech Radio. His most recent achievements include the 1st prize at the R. Petrák International Competition in Žilina (2024).

He has participated in several international performance courses with domestic and foreign renowned artists and teachers such as Kateřina Kněžíková, Adam Plachetka, Marek Rzepka, Claudia Visca, Alicja Tarczykowska, Mariusz Kwiecień, Ahmad Hedar, Markéta Cukrová, Vladimír Chmelo and Janusz Przybylski.

In Dvořák’s Rusalka, he performed the roles of Hunter and Hajný in an open air production in Vysoká u Příbramě and at the A. Dvořák. In 2023 he made his debut on the stage of the National Theatre in the role of Muezzin in Dvořák’s Armida, followed by the role of the Parukar in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Estates Theatre in Prague. He is also a concert performer, actively collaborating with the LiederSociety song group and has appeared at many music festivals, such as the Golden Peck, Tones of Chodov Fortress, Dvořák’s Prague, Antonín Dvořák Festival, Jarmila Novotná Festival… He has collaborated with leading conductors such as Robert Jindra, Tomáš Netopil, Rastislav Štúr, Alena Hron and Rafał Janiak.

The mixed choir Čerchovan has been continuously active in Domažlice since its foundation in 1901. At present it consists of over forty singers. Marek Vorlicek has been its leader since 1997. Čerchovan deals mainly with sacred music, but does not shy away from stylized medieval music, spirituals or opera. The repertoire includes, of course, choral arrangements of folk songs. When performing vocal-instrumental works, the choir cooperates with various orchestras and professional soloists. The choir has also performed several times with the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra and in recent years has been regularly invited to collaborate with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra in Mariánské Lázně. In 2010, the choir performed Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass at the invitation of the Embassy of the Czech Republic to the Holy See in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice Square in Rome. In 2001, the choir recorded a CD with Stabat Mater by Jakub Jan Ryba and Requiem in C minor by Georg Lickel. Both works were recorded in world premieres. In 2005 a second CD was released with sacred compositions by Jakub Jan Ryba and Magnificat by Simon Brixi. In the last two decades, the choir’s repertoire has expanded to include a number of vocal-instrumental works, such as Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Charpentier’s, Rejch’s and Dvořák’s Te Deum, the same author’s Stabat Mater, Fauré’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Haydn’s Creation and Handel’s Messiah.

Thanks to her musical enthusiasm, Alena Hron is winning favour with musicians not only at home in the Czech Republic, but also abroad. From the 2024/25 season, she will be the chief conductor of the South Czech Philharmonic. In early 2024, she was selected as Fellow in the Taki Fellowship, a two-year award that includes intensive coaching and mentoring with Marin Alsop and other music industry professionals and opportunities to conduct leading orchestras abroad.

She has worked with most of the symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic (Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava and Prague Philharmonia, among many others). Her debut at the Prague Spring International Festival 2023 was considered a great success. She has performed with the Janáček Philharmonic in Berlin and Paris and has also recorded a complete orchestral work by the Czech composer Vítězslava Kapralová. Together with Jakub Hrůša, she conducted orchestral concerts at the Ševčík Academy in Horažďovice during August 2022 and 2023.

Her international collaborations include the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra of Constance, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Collegium Musicum Orchestra and the Košice Philharmonic.

When it comes to theatre, in 2023, she was assistant to Kaspar Zehnder in a new production of Rusalka in Metz and presented a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre. At the Silesian Theatre in Opava, she was a conductor of Verdi’s Rigoletto in 2022 and of a successful production of the musical Funny Girl in 2021. In 2018, she conducted Puccini’s La Bohème at the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec.

She was also a co-founder and the artistic director (until the end of the 2021/22 season) of the chamber choir Punkt, which under her direction won several awards at prestigious international competitions, and which focuses on contemporary music. In the 2021/22 season, she also collaborated with the Prague Philharmonic Choir.

In June 2024, Alena Hron will complete her second master’s degree at the prestigious Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Mueller, thanks to which she has conducted orchestras in Constance, Amiens, Göttingen, Nürnberg, Magdeburg and Thessaloniki. She previously studied conducting at the Prague Conservatory (Miriam Němcová, Hynek Farkač, Miroslav Košler), the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Tomáš Koutník, Leoš Svárovský, Zbyněk Müller) and the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo (Ole Kristian Ruud, Sigmund Thorp).

She has also participated in conducting masterclasses under the direction of Vasily Petrenko, Christian Ehwald, Stefan Parkman and Greta Pedersen.

Petr Michalec was born in Ústí nad Labem in 1982. He received his musical education at the conservatory in Teplice and then at the Prague Conservatory, from which he graduated in 2003. He furthered his education at the Academy of Music in Lugano, Switzerland. In the years 2001-2007 he worked in the orchestra of the F.X.Šalda Theatre in Liberec. He has been a member of the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra of Mariánské Lázně since 2018 and the Orchestra of Music of the Castle Guard and Police of the Czech Republic since 2020. He is active as a chamber musician – wind trio, Trio Anima Pura, wind quintet. One of his favourite hobbies is playing the piano.

Jan Mikoláš was born on 6 August 1979 in Sokolov, where he also began playing the violin at the local LŠU. He continued his viola studies at the conservatory in Pilsen. He then studied conducting at the JAMU in Brno, the Prague Conservatory and the HAMU in Prague. He completed his training at conducting masterclasses in Vienna with Prof. Vladimir Kiradjiev and István Dénész. He has regularly conducted the Mariánské Lázně ZSO since 2003 and was deputy chief conductor of the KSO Karlovy Vary from 2014-2015.
Since 2022 he has been working as a conductor with the North Bohemian Theatre Ústí nad Labem and the North Bohemian Philharmonic Teplice. Since 2023, he has also conducted The Phantom of the Opera at the GOJA Music Hall in Prague and this year’s Les Misérables.
He has been chief conductor of the Františkovy Lázně Orchestra since 2017.
He continues to actively play the viola and violin.