Ostrava Center for New Music

Daniel Havel was born in 1984, he graduated at the Conservatory of Music in Brno in 2006. He is a student of Mr. Radomir Pivoda at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague nowadays. During the studies he has taken masterclasses from Vaclav Kunt, Carlo Jans, Florence Bellon, Phillipe Bernold, Peter-Lukas Graf and Felix Renggli. He was a member of Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and now he is a member of the National Theatre Opera Orchestra in Prague. He did several recordings for the Czech Radio and won some competitions held in the Czech Republic.

Małgorzata Hlawsa was born in 1978 in Katowice. She graduated from Music Academy in Katowice in the flute specialization. As a scholarship grant holder of the Fondation des Treilles she developed her skills in the range of solo and chamber play conducted by the Prof. C. Gentilhomme, M. Caroli, C. Goodman and A. Angster at Conservatoire National de Region in Strasburg where she finished her postgraduate studies with the first class honors. Besides, she completed master's courses conducted by outstanding teachers: M. Debost, Ch. Larde, M. Lurie, C. Goodman, I. Moretti. She also played as a soloist and chamber player at many festivals in Poland and all over the world. She copperates with AUKSO-Tychy Chamber Orchestra. With wind quintet ERATO she got the II prize on the Polish Competition of Chamber Bands in Warsaw, and the III reward at the VI Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music in Cracaw. In 2009 she has found a flute duo "Assobio" .

Born in 1983, he began to play the oboe at age of ten with V. Hanuš, later he continued his studies on the Prague Conservatory with F. X. Thuri. During his studies  at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Jana Brožková, where he continues at present time in the Doctor programme, he passed an intership on CNSM Lyon with J.-L. Capezzali and J. Guichard.
Jan is laureate of competitions in Lodz (2005, 1st prize) and Prague Spring (2008, 3rd prize), as well as semifinalist of competitions in Karuizawa, (Japan, 2006) and Geneve (2010). He appeared as soloist on stage with various national orchestras, performing concertos by Mozart, Martinů, Pasculli and Zimmermann. In 2001 he was a member of Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, from 2006 until now he plays as solo-oboe in the Prague Philharmonia. With a great affection in chamber music, he performs regularly with pianist Miloslava Machová, and the Arundo wind trio. He is repeatedly invited to play with Ensemble Prague Modern and Ostravska Banda, both focusing on contemporary music. In his Master recital in April 2009 he presented the work of Henri Dutilleux „Les Citations“ as Czech premiere. With the Belfiato Quintet he was awarded a 3rd prize on the International Wind Quintet Competition "Henri Tomasi", held in Marseille, France on February 2011.

Daniel Svoboda began studying clarinet at Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava in 1999. He has successfully participated in numerous competitions and has received several awards and scholarships: 2001 – Concertino Praga National Round, honorable mention; 2001 – Karl Ditters from Dittersford in Vidnava, 1st place; 2002 – recipient of a scholarship from YAMAHA; 2003 – Winner of title, “Absolute” and 1st place in playing clarinet at participating conservatories; 2004 – Chamber Orchestra, 1st place; 2007 – was among the best eighteen clarinetists in an international competition hosted by Geneva. As a soloist, he performed with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra 2004) and with the Student Orchestra of Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava (2004-2005). He is a member of Brass Quintet and clarinet group Clarus Quartet, and is currently a student of the Faculty of Arts at University of Ostrava.

Stefanie Liedtke is a classical trained bassoon and recorder player. She played several years as principal bassoon player, first in the Netherlands Ballet Orchestra in Amsterdam and later in the chamber orchestra Camerata in Athens. In 1992 she won the second prize at the International Competition “Fernand Gillet”. Stefanie specialized in modern music. Many composers wrote for the two chamber groups she was founder of: Palmós and Trio Kassandra. As a member of different chamber music groups, such as Xenakis ensemble, Insomnio and Palmós as well as a solo player Stefanie toured through Europe, the US and Japan. Lately she is involved in different educational projects: - performing the childrens opera Smak with the Wervelwind Ensemble, combined with interactive workshops in primary schools – as bassoon and fagottino teacher in the leerorkest, as part of an initiative of the foundation Leerorkest in Amsterdam.
You can hear Stefanie on the CD Breathless with the Sequenza from Berio and works by Skalkottas, Yun and Kyriakides.
Photo: Michel Marang

Daniel Costello, a native New Yorker, was a freelance horn player in the US and Canada before he came to Europe. His principal teachers were John Zirbel, David Jolley and Malte Burba. Costello was a founding member and music director of the Encore Brass Quintet, which won the New York Brass Quintet competition in 1993. Encore was the first brass quintet to be awarded a rural residency from the National Endowment for the Arts. During his tenure with the Encore Brass Quintet, Daniel Costello premiered many works by American composers. In 1997, Costello was appointed principal horn of La Camerata, a chamber orchestra in Athens, Greece and later became principal horn of the Schönebeck Chamber Orchestra in Germany. In 2001, Daniel Costello was appointed associate principal horn of the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Germany. In conjunction with his work with Zinc & Copper Works, he has researched experimental techniques including microtonal and half-valve techniques on the horn.

Stefan Most was born in Magdeburg and started with piano at Georg Philipp Telemann Conservatory before he changed to french horn.  He studied in Berlin at Hanns Eisler Music University and graduated in 2007. During his study he worked as substitute at Konzerthausorchester Berlin.  Stefan Most work as a freelancer and performs at different festivals and orchestras (Brückenfestival Rostock, Magdeburger Philharmonie, Berliner Ensemble).

Thomas Verchot has performed with the Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble since 2002 and has been a member of the Ostravská Banda since 2008. He has presented solo recitals in numerous churches around New York City. Thomas performed the Bach Second Brandenburg Concerto at the Opus Berkshire Festival, with the New Sussex Symphony (NJ) and the American Festival of Microtonal Music. The AFMM performance has been released by Pitch Records. Orchestras he has played with include: New York City Opera, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Musica Sacra Orchestra (NY), Oratorio Society of New York, Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, Amor Artis Orchestra, Springfield Symphony (MA), New Jersey Symphony, The Bach Aria Group and Philharmonia Virtuosi. 
Thomas appeared at the Cafe Carlyle in New York in 'A Tribute to Bobby Short.' Internationally, he was principal trumpet of the Festival Dei Due Mondi for 6 seasons, and was a member of the Filarmonica Del Bajio in Guanajuato, Mexico. In addition to numerous recordings for the Ostrava Center for New Music, he can be heard on recordings of Anthony Newman's "Nicole and the Trial of the Century" (Albany Records), Jeanne Shaffer's "Shalom" (Leonora Records), and Dave Hall's "Places" (Giuseppe Joe Records).  

The trumpeter Ladislav Kozderka was born in 1974 into a family of musicians in Brno. He graduated from the conservatory there and continued his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. He subsequently became principal trumpet with the Opera Orchestra of the National Theater in Prague and since November 2008 he has also been principal trumpet with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist he has performed with leading symphony and chamber orchestras in the Czech Republic and abroad. At present, he focuses on concert activities, improvisation, the performance of contemporary music and the creation of music and stage projects for various composers.

Florian Juncker started to play the trombone at Benjamin Franklin High School when he was thirteen. From 1997 to graduating in 2004, he studied at the "Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. While in school, he finished one year of post-graduate studies and in 2002, as part of an exchange school program, studied at the Norwegian School of Music in Oslo. He was a member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra, Youth Jazz Orchestra and Junge Philharmonic in Berlin. He became a member of the Youth All-Star Big Band in Radio Helsinky conducted by Bob Mintzer. He played with the Ensemble Modern Orchestra (conductor Heinz Holliger) at Lucerne Festival, and was a member of Poland-German Contemporary Music Ensemble. Additionally, he has participated in concerts at Darmstadt’s Holiday Courses, Warsaw Autumn and Ultraschall Festival in Berlin. In September 2004, he received a scholarship to the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt. Together with Boreas Ensemble (Brass Quintet), he won a scholarship from the Villa Musica.

Magnus Nilsson, was born and raised in Sweden, and is currently based in the Netherlands working as a freelance trombone player in Dutch, Belgian and Scandinavian orchestras, ensembles and chamber music groups. He has completed studies at the Malmo Music College and the Utrecht School of the Arts and has worked with orchestras/ensembles as The Hague Philharmonic, The Noord Nederlands Symphony, The Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra, Malmo Symphony, The Band of the Royal Netherlands Marines, the Band of the Malmo Firebrigade, Het Muziek Lod, The Xenakis Ensemble and the NOG Ensemble.
Magnus has taught at the Utrecht School of the Arts and been involved in education projects such as the Barenboim-Said Education Project in Ramallah and the Amman Symphony Orchestra.

The tuba player Robin Hayward, born in Brighton, England in 1969, has been based in Berlin since 1998. He has redefined the tuba’s potential both in the areas of noise and microtonality. His compositions for other instruments reflect a similar experimental, medium-specific approach. His specific playing ability has been utilized by composers such as Alvin Lucier and Christian Wolff. He has toured extensively both solo and in collaboration. His research to date has been documented in his solo CD Valve Division and various collaborative releases. Active in many contemporary music ensembles including Phosphor, and Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, in 2005 he founded Zinc & Copperworks for continued research into brass instruments.
'An extraordinary tuba player' - The New York Times
www.robinhayward.de

Tuba player Jiří Král graduated from Music School in Bílovec in recorder, baritone and tuba. In 2000, he won 1st place in the interpretive competition of brass instruments in Brno in the junior category, and in 2006, 1st place and the title of absolute winner in the competition of conservatories and he advanced to the final international competition of brass instruments in Polish Jastrzębie Zdrój (in the same contest, he won 2nd place in 2008). First prize in the 1st category he won in 2007 at an international competition of brass instruments in Brno. In 2008 he participated in the International courses of tuba playing with prof. J. B. Larsen in Markneukirchen, Germany. A member of the Youth Brass Orchestra in Jistebník since 2000, he also performs in a brass quintet, a student symphony orchestra and the Brass Philharmonic Orchestra of the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava. In 2008, he performed as a soloist with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and at concerts of Ostravská banda at the festivals Janáček May and the Prague Spring.

Lajos Tóth was born in 1982 in Budapest, Hungary. He started his studies in percussion in 1992 at the Conservatory of the University of Debrecen.  He studied at the percussion faculty of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, with Zoltán Rácz, leader of Amadinda Percussion Group. Lajos Tóth performs regularly with many of Hungary’s symphony orchestras, including the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, and Danubia Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Amadinda Percussion Group, and UMZE Chamber Ensemble. He is a member of Ostravská banda since 2006.

Percussionist Chris Nappi has appeared throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and the US with the SEM Ensemble, Newband, The New Music Consort, Steve Reich and Musicians, Ben E. King, and John Wesley Harding. As a composer he has created music for the dance, theatrical productions and multi-media installations and has recorded for the Columbia, Ear-Rational, Mode, New Tone, Rene Block Editions, Tzadik, and Wergo labels.

”Until now, only the Amadinda Percussion Group popularized contemporary music effectively. The young Tömösközi is their worthy follower. Only his fantastic talent is larger than his fascinating personality. “  -  White Elephant Hungarian Cultural Portal

Born in Hungary, started his percussion studies following his father's example who was also a drummer, in 1990. He pursued his studies under the guidance of Aurél Holló and Zoltán Rácz, members of the world famous Amadinda Percussion Group. His outstanding talent soon had him step forward from being an apprentice to be a colleague. He cordially refers to his academic years spent under persistent influence of Amadinda, during that years he became a highly qualified, versatile musician. Appreciating these excelleces the Liszt Academy admitted him to its teaching faculty in the same year he has achieved his Master's Degree.
Firstly, in 1999 he won the second prize of the National Percussion Competition of Colleges. With his percussion ensemble Mondo Quartet, won the Ari Kupsus Artistic Scholarship in 2005 and the special price of the Japanese Embassy at the International Percussion Quartet Competition in Luxembourg. As performer he won the Promise Award of Contemporary Music Festival of Young in 2009, In 2011 Mr. Tömösközi has won a Annie Fischer scholarship commissioned by the Hungarian Ministry of Education. László's repertoire spans from classical transcriptions to contemporary electroacoustic compositions. He has made Hungarian premiere of solo and chamber works by such composers as Edgard Varése, Olivier Messiaen, Alan Hovhaness, John Cage, Steve Reich, Louis Andriessen, Tan Dun, Toshio Hosokawa, Gordon Stout, Kevin Volans, David Lang, Anna Ignatowicz, Don Womack and John Psathas. He has also made numerous radio, TV and CD recordings for such labels as Hungaroton, Warner Classics, BMC and Sony Records. His most recent contribution can be heard on disc titling 'Ostravska Banda On Tour 2010' containing percussion trios by Petr Kotik and Bernhard Lang, released by Mutable Music. He is playing on ADAMS marimbas and vibraphones since 2005. 
László now presents around 40 concerts and 40 theatre plays a year.

Percussionist Jakub Tengler (b. 1987 in Nový Jičín, Czech Republic) began his music career playing the recorder, clarinet and percussions (becoming a member of the Youth Brass Orchestra of the Vítkov Music School) – at thirteen, he began playing the piano. During his studies at Vítkov Music School, he participated in several solo and chamber music competitions in clarinet and drums. He continued his studies at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava in drums, where he developed an interest in jazz. Since 2005, he played regularly with the Cuban-African infused band Sherlock and in Ostrava jazz clubs. He also became interested in traditional Irish music, and was the drummer for the Ostrava band Celtic Cross (also playing the Irish drum – Bodhran) for four years. Since 2007, he has studied drums at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno with Martin Opršál and Kamil Slezák. He has gained much experience from working with several ensembles – percussion work with the ensemble DAMA DAMA, guest appearing in the percussion section of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and other orchestras. He plays percussions with a jazz trio and quartet in Brno, and currently teaches percussions at the Vítkov Music School.

Hailed by Village Voice critic Kyle Gann as one of "new music's most valued performers," pianist Joseph Kubera has gained international renown as a major interpreter of contemporary music. Recently he appeared as soloist at the New England Conservatory, at MELA Foundation's Memorial Concerts of music of Richard Maxfield and Terry Jennings in New York, and with Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin. He has performed at major festivals in the U.S. and Europe and has been awarded grants through the NEA Solo Recitalist Program, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, and other arts organizations.  A leading proponent of the music of John Cage, he is one of the few pianists performing the difficult works from the 50s through the 70s; he has recorded the complete Music of Changes and the Piano Concert, and has toured with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Cage's invitation. Joseph Kubera is a core member of S.E.M. Ensemble, the Downtown Ensemble and Roscoe Mitchell's New Chamber Ensemble, and he has performed with a broad range of New York ensembles. He has worked closely with such composers as Anthony Coleman, Alvin Lucier, Robert Ashley, La Monte Young and "Blue" Gene Tyranny. Solo recordings include Cage's Music of Changes on Lovely Music and Cowell's Nine Ings on New Albion. He has also recorded for the Wergo, O.O. Discs, 1750 Arch and Opus One labels.

Ivan Šiller studied piano, privately with D. Buranovský, D. Varínská (VŠMU Bratislava) and D. Vandewalle (Royal Conservatoire Gent). He has received scholarships from Ostrava Days, Tanglewood Music Center in the United States, Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and International Holiday Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, in addition to winning awards at several domestic and foreign competitions (e.g. EMCY in Hamburg). Not only appearing at significant festivals of new music, he has also worked with the theater sets Walpurgis (Antwerp) and Wederzijds (Amsterdam). He is the initiator of musical and educational projects for young people (projects Stretnutia, youth choir Eben Ezer and children's choir Kvapôčky, among others) and the founder and artistic director of Space, a festival that emphasizes contemporary music. He began the cycle of chamber concerts in the Gallery of Nitra and Gallery of Art in Nové Zámky. His activities in the artistic field have been awarded by Slovakia’s Ministry of Education with the St. Gorazd prize. Together with Enikö Ginzery, he organized the Tokaj Art Summer Music Courses in Eastern Slovakia.

Milan Osadský (born in 1983) studied accordion at Žilina Conservatory with Prof. Martin Ďuriš and Igor Gajan. He continued his studies at University for Performing Arts in Bratislava in the class of Rajmund Kákoni. He finished the same university with post-graduate course in the class of Boris Lenko. He has successfully participated on national and international competitions – he won twice National Competition of Slovak Conservatories and is prize winner from many other musical contests (Accordeon Competition in Przemysl, Poland; Accordeon Competition in Roveredo, Switzerland; Ján Cikker Festival).
He performs at concerts home and abroad as soloist or as a member of Melos Ethos Ensemble and Ostravská banda that specializes in new music. He is particularly concerned with performing 20th Century and contemporary music.

Daniel Skála (b. July 19, 1981 in Ostrava) began to play cimbalom at the age of seven. After studying at the Music School in Ostrava, he went on to learn with Professor Růžena Děcká (Conservatory in Kroměříž), one of the leading educational personalities in cimbalom studies. He continued at Liszt Academy in Budapest with another major personality in the field - teacher and player Ilona Szeverényi. Besides cimbalom, Daniel studies musical composition and choir conducting. He participated in many interpretative competitions in the Czech Republic and abroad – he has won one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind in the world, Valašské Meziříčí (1997-2003). In 2004, he won the Independent Jury Prize for Best Interpretation Performance in the international music festival "Mladé pódium" [Young Stage] in Karlovy Vary, among others.
As a performer, he is devoted to music primarily from the Baroque era to Contemporary music, giving priority to original interpretations of the literature from these two periods. He often performs as a soloist, with chamber ensembles at concerts and festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad (mainly in cooperation with the Hungarian pianist Nóra Füzi). He also plays with symphony and chamber orchestras (Janáček Chamber Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra, Musica Figuralis, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Ostravská banda, etc.). His ambition is to promote the cimbalom as a concert instrument of artificial music and as a field of study at universities in the Czech Republic.
Daniel Skála currently teaches cimbalom at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava.

Ivana Dohnalová studied harp at Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava. She graduated on HAMU in 2011 with prof. Ada Balová. In 2002, she performed at the 8th World Harp Congress in Geneva. She appeared as a soloist with the Dorikos String Quartet, Leoš Janáček Chamber Orchestra and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. She received the Magdaléna Jakubská scholarship in 2004, which allowed her to attend summer master classes at the American university Eastman School of Music in Rochester with Prof. Kathleen Bride. Each year she participates in Ostrava’s Harp Days (Harfové dny), where, in 2004, she performed in the Czech premiere of Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Chamber Orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski accompanied by Janáček Chamber Orchestra.
She is invited to cooperate with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and the international student orchestra Europera. Dohnalová currently lives in Prague and participates in several solo and chamber music performances every year. She is a member of Ostravská banda.

Violinist Conrad Harris has performed new works for violin at the Darmstadt Ferrienkürse für Neue Musik, Gulbenkian Encounters of New Music, Radio France, Warsaw Autumn, and New York's Sonic Boom Festival. In addition to being a member of the Flux Quartet, he is concertmaster of the New York based S.E.M. Orchestra and the Ostravská banda, founded in the Czech Republic. He has performed and recorded with such artists as DJ Spooky, Jean-Claude Risset, and Tiny Tim, as featured violinist on his final recording "Prisoner of Love." A solo CD featuring premiers by Alvin Lucier, David Behrman, Robert Ashley, and Gordon Mumma will soon be released on Mode Records. He has also recorded for Asphodel, Vandenburg, CRI, and Vinyl Retentive Records.

Violinist, Pauline Kim, leads the string quartet in the Grammy nominated opera glam-rock band, East Village Opera Company (Universal/Decca), exciting audiences throughout the U.S., Asia, Europe, Canada and Peru. As a member of the Ostravská banda (Czech Republic), she tours extensively in Europe premiering works by contemporary composers. She has also toured with Savion Glover in the hit show, "Classical Savion" during the 2005-06 season.
Ms. Kim has been featured on PBS and has been heard on live radio broadcasts to include a program with violinist, Elmar Oliviera from the WQXR Listening Room with Robert Sherman at Merkin Hall. In 1996, she gave her debut recital at the Ravinia Festival on the Rising Stars Series and appeared as guest soloist with the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e E minor.  That same year, Ms. Kim engaged the public in her New York debut recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall that "gleamed and shimmered...brilliant...with stylistic affinity and virtuosity." (Strings). In the spring of 2005, she gave the New York premiere performance of the Arutunian Violin Concerto with the Barbad Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Kim has also appeared with the North Country Chamber Players, Waldorf Chamber Players, Monomoy Chamber Players, Craftsbury Chamber Players, Beekman Hill Ensemble, and Poetica Musica. She has performed at Trinity Church Wallstreet on the Distinguished Artists Series with the Thalia Chamber Players as well as on the Four Seasons Concert Series in San Francisco's Herbst Theater, as a member of the S.E.M. Ensemble. Ms. Kim was a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in 2002 and 2003 seasons and played with the New York Chamber Symphony under the direction of Gerard Schwartz. She has performed annually with Paula Robison at the MET Museum and continues to play with harpsichordist, Anthony Newman in all six Brandenburg Concerti at St. Bartholomew's on New Year's Eve.
Born in Hollywood, California, she lives in the West Village where she makes New York City her home with her husband, Conrad Harris, violinist in the FLUX String Quartet. She continues to appear as a guest performer with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as with the American Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theater and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Ms. Kim holds a Bachelor and Master degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, Cho Liang Lin and Felix Galimir. Ms. Kim was one of the last pupils of Jascha Heifetz at age 10.

Violinist David Danel (b. 1974 in Havířov) studied with L. Gořula at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava, and prof. Zdeněk Gola at the University of Ostrava. He also participated in master classes with E. Grač, and is a laureate of the Beethovenův Hradec and L. Janáček Competition in Brno. As a soloist, he performed with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Slovak Chamber Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra and Dartington Summer Festival. Danel often records for Czech Radio – with an emphasis on chamber compositions – and deals with premiere recordings of contemporary authors. He is intensely devoted to chamber music and his work in ensembles Camerata Janáček and Ensemble Moravia. In 2005, he taught at the summer music courses of Crescendo Summer Institute in Hungary. Occasionally he is a guest concertmaster in Bilbao Philharmonic, and currently operates as a member of the Prague Philharmonia and contemporary music ensembles MoEns (Mondschein) and Early Reflections.

In 1994, Černohorský graduated from the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava having studied with V. Kuznik; in 1998, he graduated from the Faculty of Music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, having studied with Prof. P. Messiereur. From 1998 to 2000, he received a scholarship in Japan at Toho Gakuen Orchestra Academy, where he worked as concertmaster of symphony orchestra. During his studies in Japan, he received a series of awards at interpretative competitions (1992 – 3rd Place in the competition of Czech conservatories in Teplice, 1st Place in the quartet competition “Win the Prize and be Beethoven of Hradec” – in 1993, he wonb second prizes in these competitions). As the soloist he performed with several Czech orchestras: Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra Hradec Králové, Chamber Orchestra of young soloists. On numerous occasions, he has also recorded for the Czech Radio, cooperated with the Moravian chamber soloists, performed in the Talich Chamber Orchestra and occasionally in other ensembles. In 2004, he was announced artistic director of Janáček Chamber Orchestra while on tour in South Korea, and in the summer of 2005, he took part in Chamber Music Festival in Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra (Kent Blossom Festival, USA). From 2000 to 2006, Jakub Černohorský worked as a teacher at the Janáček Conservatory and Grammar School in Ostrava. Since 2008, he has been a concertmaster of Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra.

Violist Nikolaus Schlierf (b. 1969) studied at Regensburger Domspatzen University of Art before continuing to study at conservatories in Nürnberg (with Professor Hans Kohlhase), Frankfurt (with J. Heyer) and Freiburg (with J. Lüthy and Garth Knoxe) – additionally having attended a special class with Walter Levine and Hatto Baierlea at Basler Conservatory. He has gained much experience working with orchestras through working with the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra, German Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Freiburg. Schlierf was the main soloist not only in the premiere of Requiem by B. Guckelsbeggers, but also at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2003, he won first place in the interpretation of contemporary music at the Hanns-Eisler competition. In September 2004, he played a solo part in the composition of Prometeo by Luigi Nono in Musikhalle in Hamburg conducted by Ojgo Metzmacher. He has been a solo viola in Ensemble Resonanz (Hamburg) since 1996 and is a member of the DASZ string quartet. Furthermore, he is a regular guest player of Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Ensemble Modern, Kammerkunstverein Hamburg, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Berliner Ensemble, United Berlin and the baroque ensemble Telemann-Consort in Magdeburg. He currently lives in Berlin.

Peter Zwiebel started to play viola in 1996 (Košice Conservatory). Then he continued at VŠMU in Bratislava and later (in 2004) he studied in Swiss Bazel in a class of Christopher Schiller. Peter also attended courses of chamber music in La Scalle Quartet (W. Levine, S. Hamann).  He was a leader of viola group in European Philharmonic Orchestra, European Tour (2001), Symphonie orchesra Akademie der Stadt Basel (2004). He works with Melos Ethos Ensemble and he is founding member of Zwiebel quartet and leader of viola group of Slovakian chamber orchestra of Bohdan Warchal. Regularly, he presents compositions for viola by contemporary Slovak and other foreign composers (Bryars, Kopelent, Bokes, Podprocký, Buffa, Borzík).

(1978) has studied music since 1984. From 1993 to 1999, he studied conservatory, and from 1999 to 2004, he studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. His music career includes Bayreuth-Festival Junger Kunstler, Raphael Wallfisch MIK in Piestany/Slovakia, Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust competition in London - 3rd prize, IJOA Orchester Project, Idyllwild Arts Summer Program, Cello and chamber music masterclass by John Walz, Endre Balogh, Igor Gruppman, Scott Lee, among others.
Gál has been a member of the Slovak Chamber Orchestra since 2001; that same year he co-founded Zwiebel String Quartet. He attended Summer Academy Prague-Vienna-Budapest in the quartet masterclass in 2002 and 2003 with members of world known quartets such as Alban Berg, Smetana, Janacek or Bartok quartet. He won 2nd Thomastik-Infeld prize in the string quartet category. Further, in 2007 and 2008 he attended a masterclass for string quartet in Basel with W. Levin (LaSalle quartet) and R. Schmidt (Hagen quartet).
He is also a member of other ensembles for contemporary music such as Veni Ensemble, Melos Ethos Ensemble and the newly established Quasars Ensemble. He collaborates with the Musica Aeterna Ensemble on period instruments. As a chamber and orchestral musician he has performed at major festivals in Middle Europe: Bratislava Music Festival, Melos-Ethos, Ostrava Days, Prague Spring, Warsaw Autumn, Festival of Contemporary Art in Kosice and in various locations throughout the U.S.A. and Japan.

Juho Laitinen (b. 1977) is a performer, writer, composer and curator with interests that include historical avantgarde, electroacoustic music and improvisation as well as early Baroque, Near Eastern music, jazz and fado. He studied in Turku and London and additionally in Rome and New York. Currently he is working towards a doctorate at Sibelius Academy, focusing on experiments in 20th century cello repertoire. Juho serves as artistic director at the minuscule Kallio New Music Days and the slightly grander Tulkinnanvaraista recital series. His compositions deal mainly with microtonality, physical processes of instrumentality, live electronics and communal aspects of performance. He is a frequent guest at Finnish Radio both as a performer and speaker, and his writings have been published in Rondo, Amfion and Finaali magazines. He is playing cello in Ostravská banda.

John Eckhardt (*1974) is a versatile chamber musician and improviser. His work both as a double bass soloist and ensemble musician in contemporary music (among others with Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, musikFabrik NRW, Evan Parker, Elliott Sharp, Malcolm Goldstein, Ostravská banda) led him to many venues and international festivals. His solo CD "Xylobiont" (PSI rec.) and his recordings of various kinds of contemporary music such as Xenakis' seminal masterpiece "Theraps" (Mode rec.) brought him worldwide recognition as one of the leading bass players of his generation. In addition, he is involved in a number of club music, drone and multimedia projects as a bass guitarist and composer. With this broad spectrum of activities, John Eckhardt represents a new dimension of contemporary musicianship. John lives within hearing distance of the Hamburg harbor. "John Eckhardt's performance is absolutely stunning."
(Paris Transatlantic)
Photo: K. Bethge

František Výrostko was born in October 4, 1980 in Martin, Slovakia. In 1999 (after finishing secondary studies), he entered Žilina Conservatory, studying doublebass as a main subject. In 2003, he proceeded his studies at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Bratislava with prof. Radoslav Šašina. In 2006, he spent one semester in the class of prof. Frano Kakarigi at the Conservatory of Murcia, Spain. In 2007, he graduated  the Master of Arts degree. During his  studies, he took part in several international master classes in Michaelstein (Germany) or Brno (CZ).
František Výrostko is an orchestral, chamber and solo musician. He works  with orchestras: Quasars ensemble (SK), Cappella Istropolitana (SK), Ostravská Banda (CZ), Melos ethos ensemble (SK), Orquestra do Norte (PT), Camerata Europeanea (D) Symfonia Vienna (A), MKO (A). As a member of these ensembles, he took part on important festivals and concerts, such as: Alice Tully Hall New York, Carnegie hall - Zankel Hall New York, Paris conservatory, Schleswigholstein music festival, Prague spring, Janacek May, Ostrava Days, GAIA-Vilnius, Peking, Shanghai, Jakarta, Martinique, Strassburg, Rome, Berlin...
His repertoire include classical music, but he also performs contemporary and  jazz music. He is also a composer and writer (in 2011 he published his book Navonok Introvert).