Leading Czech guitarists Jan-Matěj Rak and Štěpán Rak

In 2000, Štěpán Rak was appointed the first university professor of guitar in the Czech Republic. The title was awarded to him by President Václav Havel. In 2001, he was the first guitarist in the world to be invited to perform as a soloist at the famous P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The concert, attended by leading figures in Russian musical life, was met with extraordinary acclaim and resulted in further invitations. In the same year, he performed with Alfred Strejček in Mexico in a concert project honoring J. A. Comenius, Vivat Comenius. It was the fourth joint tour of these artists on the American continent.

In 2002, Štěpán Rak performed again at the Moscow Conservatory and at the prestigious Moscow Autumn international festival. Japan was added to the list of 73 countries he had visited with his guitar by that time. In 2003, Jaroslava Urbanová and Štěpán Rak published a joint book entitled Kytara, má láska (Guitar, My Love). It is dedicated to a great personality, the founder of the Czech guitar school, Professor Štěpán Urban.

In February 2004, Štěpán Rak was invited to perform in China as the first Czech guitarist. He dazzled audiences at a theater in Beijing with his concert Praise of Tea. In March 2004, he was a guest at the World Guitar Masters international guitar festival, held in California, USA, where Rak’s full-length suite for solo guitar, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, was met with great acclaim. During 2005, he visited a number of countries and many places in the Czech Republic with his guitar as part of his anniversary celebrations.

In November 2006, Štěpán Rak was presented with a unique gift from the sculptor Jan Řeřicha: a stone guitar. This guitar has completely unique resonance properties, which Štěpán Rak uses in his Guitar Therapy project.

At the end of November 2007, he celebrated a quarter of a century of the guitar, which he founded at HAMU in 1982, with a concert at HAMU together with his graduates. A significant moment was the performance on November 4, 2007, in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery, where, together with Alfred Strejček, they performed Komenský’s General Consultation in front of Rembrandt’s painting of Komenský. In December, a selection from Komenský’s Obecná porada o nápravě věcí lidských (General Consultation on the Improvement of Human Affairs) was published, which both artists christened. Štěpán Rak is a personality who captivates his listeners with the intensity of his experience, his interpretative mastery, and the absolute fusion of performer and composer in one person, with the soul of music.

Jan-Matěj Rak was born on May 28, 1977, in the Finnish city of Jyväskylä. He inherited his musical talent from his father, composer and guitar virtuoso Štěpán Rak, and also embarked on a career as a musician. Although he began studying classical guitar, he ultimately chose a different, unique path.

He began playing the guitar at the age of five and soon achieved his first successes, performing on television and in joint concerts with his father. Later, he began to make a name for himself as a singer-songwriter, and thanks to his colorful and harmonically rich playing, he also became a sought-after accompanist and instrumentalist.

For many years he devoted himself to Jewish music and, in addition to many concerts in Czechia and abroad with the group Chesed, he released a CD with the Indies label. He continued his distinctive arrangements and interpretations of Jewish songs from Central and Eastern Europe after the band broke up, forming the duo Marion with actress and singer Monika Žáková, with whom he achieved many successes, again on foreign stages (the opening concert of the International Festival of Jewish Culture in Dresden, etc.). In addition, Jan-Matěj Rak also played in the world music group Natalika led by Brno cellist Natalie Velšmídová.

As a songwriter, he has won several awards at music festivals (Zahrada) and his songs have appeared on several albums (e.g., Havěť všelijaká 2 from 2006). As a composer and instrumentalist – in addition to the guitar, he also plays the accordion and balalaika – he has participated in a number of radio and television programs and productions (e.g., the twelve-part program České Budějovice S kytarou kolem světa [Around the World with a Guitar] for Czech Radio, Kapitánská dcerka [The Captain’s Daughter] for Czech Radio, and Dobrodružství pod postelí [Adventures Under the Bed] for Czech Television). He also performs and collaborates with many prominent artists and institutions (Alfred Strejček, Jitka Molavcová, Lyra Pragensis, International School of Music and Fine Arts, etc.).

Jan-Matěj Rak currently devotes himself primarily to his unique guitar arrangements of Jaroslav Ježek’s music, solo concerts, and performances at various ceremonial occasions (Ministry of Culture Awards, Fair Play Awards, etc.).

TICKETS
The ticket price for members of the Concert Club is CZK 200 (+ CZK 10 for the GoOut service fee), the regular ticket price is CZK 350.

How to purchase a ticket?
At https://goout.net/cs/listky/jan-matej-rak-and-stepan-rak/mmlfb/, select Basic Admission and enter the discount code: KONCERTNIKLUB

(Česky) Program:

Clara Schumann – Klavírní koncert a moll, op. 7

Robert Schumann – Violoncellový koncert a moll, op. 129

Bohuslav Martinů – Epos o Gilgamešovi, H 351, oratorium pro sóla, vypravěče, smíšený sbor a orchestr

Účinkující:

Prague Philharmonia 
Pražský filharmonický sbor

Robert Kružík – dirigent
Lukáš Vasile – sbormistr
Steven Isserlis – violocello
Onutė Gražinytė – klavír

Simon Callow – vypravěč

Lucy Crowe – soprán

Kyle van Schoonhoven – tenor

Derek Welton – baryton

Jan Martiník – bas

Pocta Robertovi a Claře Schumannovým vyvrcholí na koncertě, kde zaznějí díla obou manželů. Clara Wieck-Schumannová byla skvělá klavíristka, která jako jedna z prvních hrávala na koncertech zpaměti a  komponovala. Ale byla také matkou osmi dětí. Robert byl výtečný skladatel, spisovatel i klavírista, jemuž posedlost technickou dokonalostí zničila ruce. Již z prvních tónů Clařina Klavírního koncertu sálá duchovní spřízněnost uměleckého páru, jehož věhlas neměl v 19. století obdoby. Schumannův Violoncellový koncert si s Clařiným nijak nezadá v působivosti ani v hlubokém zamyšlení. Kvarta a kvinta tématu poslední věty pak podle Mishy Maiského představuje volání Clařina jména. Při poslechu tohoto koncertu se začne v mysli bezděčně odehrávat vlastní film, který v působivých obrazech sleduje zvukové kouzlo violoncella i romanticky barevného orchestru.

Martinů si pak v Eposu o Gilgamešovi zvolil věčné téma: úvahy o tom, odkud jsme vyšli, kdo jsme a kam kráčíme, jsou staré jako civilizace. V nádherném a poněkud záhadném sborovém díle na starý text jde ponor do hlubin vlastní duše ruku v ruce s cestou k počátkům psané historie.

VSTUPENKY:
Cena vstupenek pro členy Koncertního klubu činí 330 Kč. Běžná cena vstupenky je 990 Kč.
Nabízíme vstupenky ve III. a IV. cenové kategorii (v rozmezí 1. až 5. řady v přízemí).
O konkrétním místě rozhoduje pořadí nákupu – čím dříve si vstupenku v naší kanceláři koupíte, tím lepší místo si můžete vybrat.
Po rezervaci vstupenek je nutné si je osobně vyzvednout v naší kanceláři na adrese Na Kozačce 1, Praha 2, v pracovní dny mezi 9 – 17 hod, nejpozději do pátku 19.9. do 15 hodin, jinak Vaše rezervace propadá!

Vstupenky NENÍ možné zakoupit za zvýhodněnou cenu v místě konaní koncertu. 

We invite you to the opening concert of the EuroArt Prague International Chamber Music Festival, which will take place on September 23, 2025, in the Martinů Hall of the Lichtenstein Palace.

It is the first of four concerts in the 2025–26 season, during which the Stamic Quartet will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The concert program is the same as the program performed at the Stamic Quartet’s inaugural concert 40 years ago in the Mirror Hall of the Klementinum, where the ensemble first presented itself to the public.

Stamic Quartet
Jindřich Pazdera – violin
Josef Kekula – violin
Jan Pěruška – viola
Petr Hejný – cello

Program:
Karel Stamic: String Quartet in G major
Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata”
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet in G major, Op. 106

TICKETS
The ticket price for Concert Club members only is CZK 190.
The regular ticket price is CZK 300–400.
Reserve your tickets here on the website and pay for them at the concert venue.
When purchasing tickets, please indicate that you are a member of the Concert Club.

Český kytarový orchestr will perform at the Concert hall of the Prague Conservatory on 26 September from 7pm as part of the Kytara září festival.

Český kytarový orchestr (Czech Guitar Orchestra or CZEGO, formerly Prague Chamber Guitar Orchestra or PKKO) was founded at the turn of the millennium by teacher and conductor Vladimír Novotný.

Gradually it has grown to today’s twenty guitar enthusiasts, who have had many successes in art school competitions or even make a living in music themselves. The orchestra’s repertoire has expanded from simple arrangements of Renaissance songs and Latin American music to include film music and arrangements between swing and pop music, making it unique in the world of guitar orchestras. In addition to classical guitars, the orchestra includes soprano, bass and mandolin guitars. In concert they also sing, play picks or use various percussion instruments.

TICKETS
The ticket price for members of the Concert Club is CZK 200 (+ CZK 10 for the GoOut service fee), the regular ticket price is CZK 350.

How to purchase a ticket?
At https://goout.net/cs/listky/cesky-kytarovy-orchestr/pmlfb/, select Basic Admission and enter the discount code: KONCERTNIKLUB