by Lýdia Dohnalová Your career has clearly been influenced by the fact that you come from a musical family. Have you ever doubted that you made the right choice?  I have no doubt that it was the right choice. Of course it wasn’t the only choice I could have made. However, the environment you grow up in influences you from early childhood and shapes your future career. I have often wondered what direction I would have gone in had it not been music. Following after your father you studied the trumpet. Why did you later change your mind and choose the Read More

by Lukáš Pohůnek   In January we bade farewell to the world-renowned German conductor and key political figure of the 20th century Professor Kurt Masur. He had long been a musical director and principal conductor with the New York Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchestra, the London Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France. He was also honorary conductor of the Israel Philharmonic and an honorary citizen of the town of Leipzig. He died on 19 December 2015 in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the age of 88. “A great spirit” – these words strike me as being one way of characterising this icon of Read More