Prague Spring https://festival.cz/en/ 81st International Music Festival Sat, 09 May 2026 23:35:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 The first round of the piano competition has ended. Who has advanced to the next round on May 11? https://festival.cz/en/the-first-round-of-the-piano-competition-has-ended-who-has-advanced-to-the-next-round-on-may-11/ Sat, 09 May 2026 23:35:47 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138942 After two busy days filled with outstanding performances by young pianists, the jury announced the 10 contestants advancing to the second round. Among selected semi-finalists are (in alphabetical order):

1️⃣ Bae Jae Sung (Republic of Korea)
2️⃣ Cha Junho (Republic of Korea)
3️⃣ Chen Xuehong (China)
4️⃣ Son Sehyeok (Republic of Korea)
5️⃣ Takezawa Yuto (Japan)
6️⃣ Tan Qianlin (China)
7️⃣ Tao Ziye (China)
8️⃣ Tkadlčíková Eliška (Czech Republic)
9️⃣ Wang Zhiquan (China)
🔟 Zhu Hanyuan (China)

You can find the detailed schedule for Round II HERE.
Tickets for Round II are available at the venue or on the festival website.
If you are unable to attend in person, you can watch the performances online on the Prague Spring YouTube channel @PragueSpringFestival.
For more information, follow the competition on Facebook and Instagram.

]]> Watch the Prague Spring Competition LIVE! https://festival.cz/en/watch-the-prague-spring-competition-live/ Sat, 09 May 2026 08:21:00 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138901 Can’t make it to the concert hall to support your favorites? No problem! Starting with the Round II, you can watch the competition online via live streams on the Prague Spring YouTube channel. Below are links to the individual streams—don’t miss a thing!

Sunday, May 10, 2026

FLUTE Round II – Part I starting at 10 am

FLUTE Round II – Part II starting at 2:30 pm

FLUTE Round II – Part III starting at 7 pm

Monday, May 11, 2026

PIANO Round II – Part I starting at 10 am

PIANO Round II – Part II starting at 2 pm

PIANO Round II – Part III starting at 7 pm

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

FLUTE Finals starting at 6 pm

Thursday, May 14, 2026

PIANO Finals starting at 6 pm

]]> We know the eleven flutists who have advanced to the second round of the Prague Spring 2026 competition. Congratulations! https://festival.cz/en/we-know-the-eleven-flutists-who-have-advanced-to-the-second-round-of-the-prague-spring-2026-competition/ Fri, 08 May 2026 22:09:46 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138877 The first round of the FLUTE competition has been over, and we know the names of the eleven contestants who have advanced to the semifinals. Here they are (in alphabetical order):

Mathilde Alvin Besson (France)
Evyatar Baruch (Israel)
Tomás Celeste (Portugal)
Metka Črnugelj (Slovenia)
Iris Daverio (France)
Judy Lee (Republic of Korea)
Gabriele Mastrototaro (Italy)
Maël Metzger (France)
Dorotea Senica (Slovenia)
Melody Shen (USA)
Moritz Schulte (Germany)

The second round will take place on Sunday, May 10, at 10:00 a.m. in the Bohuslav Martinů Hall at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Contestants will perform one of Jean-Marie Leclair’s sonatas for flute and basso continuo, as well as one of the sonatas by Bohuslav Martinů, Ludwig van Beethoven, or Carl Maria von Weber. All twelve contestants will also perform a piece commissioned for the IMC Prague Spring 2026 – Dances and Song of the Night for Flute and Piano by Petr Popelka.

The detailed schedule for Round II is available HERE.
Tickets for Round II are available at the venue or on the festival website.
Can’t make it in person? Watch the LIVE stream of the semifinal round!
You can also find all the information on our Facebook and Instagram.

]]> Forty-two young pianists from six countries are coming to Prague. This year’s piano competition is dominated by artists from Asia https://festival.cz/en/forty-two-young-pianists-from-six-countries-are-coming-to-prague-this-years-piano-competition-is-dominated-by-artists-from-asia/ Wed, 06 May 2026 12:17:42 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138750 The 77th Prague Spring International Music Competition in the piano category will take place from May 7 to 14. This year’s competition features mainly young talents from Asia: South Korea, China, Japan, and Singapore. In the final round on May 14 at the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, you can look forward to a selection of piano concertos by Antonín Dvořák, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Johannes Brahms, and Fryderyk Chopin. The three finalists will be accompanied by the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) under the baton of Petr Altrichter. The second and third final rounds will be live-streamed on the Prague Spring YouTube channel. As part of the competition, which is being held for the second time this year with the support of the ČEZ Foundation, a mentoring program focused on artists PR and marketing will take place in collaboration with leading international professionals.

🔹 1st Round – Piano
8 & 9 May | 10.00-20.00 | HAMU, Martinů Hall
Programme and Tickets

🔹 2nd Round – Piano
11 May | 10.00-21.00 | HAMU, Martinů Hall
Programme and Tickets 

🔹 Finals – Piano
14 May | 18.00 | Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
Prague Symphony Orchestra
Petr Altrichter – conductor
Programme and Tickets 

🔥 LIVE Stream on 11 & 14 May 🔥

]]> The Prague Spring Competition is about to begin. In the flute category, 47 young artists from fourteen countries will compete https://festival.cz/en/the-prague-spring-competition-is-about-to-begin-in-the-flute-category-48-young-artists-from-fourteen-countries-will-compete/ Wed, 06 May 2026 12:16:34 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138756 The flute competition begins today, May 6, and concludes on May 13 with a grand final concert at the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, where the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kaspar Zehnder, will perform alongside the three finalists. The program will feature music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jindřich Feld. Interestingly, the compulsory piece for the second round was composed by Petr Popelka, the conductor of this year’s Prague Spring Opening Concert. The second and third final rounds will be live-streamed on the Prague Spring YouTube channel. As part of the competition, which is being held for the second time this year with the support of the ČEZ Foundation, a mentoring program focused on arts PR and marketing will take place in collaboration with leading international professionals.

🔹 1st Round – Flute
7 & 8 May | 10.00-20.00 | Vzlet
Programme and Tickets

🔹 2nd Round – Flute
10 May | 10.00-21.00 | HAMU, Martinů Hall
Programme and Tickets

🔹 Finals – Flute
13 May | 18.00 | Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra
Kaspar Zehnder – conductor
Programme and Tickets 

🔥 LIVE Stream on 10 & 13 May 🔥

]]> The 77th Prague Spring IMC is about to begin. Come support 90 young artists from 17 countries around the world! https://festival.cz/en/the-77th-prague-spring-international-music-competition-is-about-to-begin-come-support-90-young-artists-from-17-countries-around-the-world/ Wed, 06 May 2026 11:05:59 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138733 The 77th edition of the Prague Spring International Music Competition will take place from 6 to 14 May. In the flute category, 48 young artists from fourteen countries will compete in the first round, with four representatives from the Czech Republic. In the piano category, 42 young artists from six countries will take part in the first round, with one Czech participant. The second and third rounds will be streamed live on the Prague Spring YouTube channel. As part of the competition – held for the second time this year with the support of the ČEZ Foundation – a mentoring programme focused on artistic PR and marketing will be organised in collaboration with leading international professionals.

🔹 1st Round – Flute
7 & 8 May | 10.00-20.00 | Vzlet
Programme and Tickets

🔹 2nd Round – Flute
10 May | 10.00-21.00 | HAMU, Martinů Hall
Programme and Tickets

🔹 Finals – Flute
13 May | 18.00 | Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra
Kaspar Zehnder – conductor
Programme and Tickets 

🔥 LIVE Stream on 10 & 13 May 🔥

🔹 1st Round – Piano
8 & 9 May | 10.00-20.00 | HAMU, Martinů Hall
Programme and Tickets

🔹 2nd Round – Piano
11 May | 10.00-21.00 | HAMU, Martinů Hall
Programme and Tickets 

🔹 Finals – Piano
14 May | 18.00 | Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
Prague Symphony Orchestra
Petr Altrichter – conductor
Programme and Tickets 

🔥 LIVE Stream on 11 & 14 May 🔥

]]> Do not miss a premiere of the documentary Prague Spring – A window onto the world on 6 May on ČT art https://festival.cz/en/do-not-miss-a-premiere-of-the-documentary-prague-spring-a-window-onto-the-world-on-6-may-on-ct-art/ Tue, 05 May 2026 12:01:41 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138718 The television premiere of the documentary Prague Spring – A window onto the world, directed by Martin Suchánek, will be broadcast on ČT art on Wednesday 6 May at 20.15. The film was co-produced by the Prague Spring, Czech Television and innogy Česká republika. “For more than thirty years, we have reliably supplied energy to the serious, contemplative and playful tones of the Prague Spring. At the same time, we have been energising Czech cinema for over twenty years. Our investment in Prague Spring – A window onto the world represents for us the second meeting of our long-term sponsoring projects. Some time ago, we were also co-producers of Barenboim, Smetana – My Country, likewise directed and written by Martin Suchánek,” says Zuzana Tylčerová, Director of Communications at innogy. Filmed last year to mark the festival’s 80th anniversary, the nearly hour-long documentary traces both the eighty-year history and the present day of the Prague Spring. It features contributions from figures such as Semyon Bychkov, Václav Hudeček, Jan Klusák, Jiří Chvála and Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Through historical footage, viewers will also encounter a number of legendary 20th-century artists, including Herbert von Karajan, Charles Munch, Rafael Kubelík and Rudolf Firkušný. The film will receive its cinema premiere on Monday 25 May at 20.00 at Kino 35 at the French Institute in Prague. Admission is free, but advance booking is required. The documentary will also be available on the Czech Television’s iVysílání platform.

Photo: Václav Chochola / © Archiv B&M Chochola

]]> Today we had the great honor of filming with the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel https://festival.cz/en/today-we-had-the-great-honor-of-filming-with-the-president-of-the-czech-republic-petr-pavel/ Thu, 30 Apr 2026 18:50:31 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138705 Watch the first episode of the Prague Spring ECHO on May 12 at 8 p.m. on ČT art.

]]> An evening of romantic gestures and three major Prague Spring debuts https://festival.cz/en/an-evening-of-romantic-gestures-and-three-major-prague-spring-debuts/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:24:15 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138684 The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra appears at the Prague Spring for the very first time, its sound having been shaped by great artistic personalities such as Valery Gergiev (1995–2008) and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (2008–2018). The evening will unfold in a spirit of “blue skies, murmuring brooks, sunshine, love and tenderness”. 

The programme brings together the music of two great friends, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and opens with the energetic Cyrano de Bergerac overture by Johan Wagenaar, a Dutch composer whose style recalls the grand Romantic scores of Richard Strauss.

Making his Prague Spring debut on the podium will be the thirty-six-year-old conductor Lahav Shani, who developed artistically under the wing of the legendary Daniel Barenboim. Joining him in writing his first Prague Spring chapter will be one of today’s most outstanding musical talents, the Austrian pianist Lukas Sternath. At just twenty-five, the winner of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and an ECHO Rising Star 2024, he has, in the past three years, made debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, at the Salzburg Festival and the BBC Proms, as well as at London’s Wigmore Hall and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. A pianist who combines remarkable lyricism with youthful temperament and superb technique, he will perform Robert Schumann’s beautiful (and only) Piano Concerto, into which the composer wove the name of his great love, Clara Schumann.

 

If you are a lover of grand gestures and Romantic scores, reserve the evening of 1 June for the Prague Spring. We will tell you stories filled with tenderness, joy, love – and, above all, happy endings.

BUY TICKETS
]]> Invitation to the premiere of a Prague Spring documentary https://festival.cz/en/invitation-to-the-premiere-of-a-prague-spring-documentary/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:03:04 +0000 https://festival.cz/?p=138677 Please accept our invitation to the television premiere of A Window onto the World | Prague Spring 1946–2026, a film documentary directed by Martin Suchánek, on Wednesday 6 May at 8.15 pm on ČT art. A Window onto the World will have its cinema premiere on Monday 25 May at 8 pm at Kino 35 at the Institut français de Prague.

Filmed last year to mark the 80th Prague Spring Festival, this nearly hour-long documentary features contributions from artists such as Semyon Bychkov, Václav Hudeček, Jan Klusák, Jiří Chvála and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, tracing both the festival’s eighty-year history and its present day. Through archival footage, viewers will also encounter figures including Herbert von Karajan, Charles Munch, Rafael Kubelík and Rudolf Firkušný. The documentary is a co-production of the Prague Spring Festival, Czech Television and innogy Česká republika.

 

Photo: Herbert von Karajan and Karel Ančerl at the Prague Spring Festival in 1963. Photo: Václav Chochola / © B&M Chochola Archive

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