Czech Philharmonic • New Year’s Concerts

Started to play the french horn at age of nine with Tomáš Krejbich. She graduated at the Prague Conservatory in the class of prof. Bedřich Tylšar in 2012. At present time she is a student at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with professors Zdeněk Divoký and Radek Baborák. 

Kateřina has already earned reputation and prizes on prestigious international competitions. On the International Brass Competition in Brno she won the 1st prize repeatedly in 2005, 2009 and 2011. She was awarded the 1st prize on the international competition “Federico II di Svevia” in 2009. On the international french horn competition held as a part of the Festival “Moravian Autumn” she earned the title of “absolute winner”. 

She appeared as soloist with the Prague Philharmonia and the Prague Symphony Chamber Orchestra. She cooperates with leading Czech orchestras and ensembles, as the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra or the Baborák Ensemble. From 2009 she is a regular member of the Prague Philharmonia. Kateřina Javůrková has been recently awarded  1st prize and the title of laureate of the  prestigious Prague Spring International Music Competition 2013.

At the age of 26, the trumpeter Walter Hofbauer has already captivated music critics with his outstanding artistic performances and to achieve exceptional results and recognition. He comes from the Czech town Třešť and was raised in a musical family. At age 8 he began studying trumpet with Evžen Mašát, and he soon won first prize at several nationwide competitions. In September 2009 he entered Jiří Jaroněk’s studio at the Prague Conservatoire, and he soon became the overall winner of the conservatoire competition. Already as a second-year student, he played first trumpet in the orchestra of the Prague Conservatoire at the opening concert of the Prague Spring Festival under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek, the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. Two years later, he won the audition for the Orchestral Academy of the Czech Philharmonic. He graduated from the conservatoire in 2015, and that same year he was admitted to the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he continued his studies under the guidance of Vladimír Rejlek. As a laureate of the Concertino Praga International Radio Competition, he appeared at the Rudolfinum as a soloist with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and he became a full-time member of that orchestra in 2014. Since the 2017/2018 he has also been a member of the Orchestra of the National Theatre.

Robert Kružík belongs to the youngest generation of Czech conductors. Since January 2016 he has been in a long-term engagement of the Janáček Opera House of the National Theatre in Brno. At the time, he was also engaged by the Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava (2016–2019).

Since the 2018/2019 season he has been a permanent guest conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra; since the 2021/2022 season he has been the Chief Conductor of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in Zlín. He is the laureate of the Jiří Bělohlávek Prize awarded to musicians under 30 years of age.

Kružík collaborates with many symphony orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, MDR-Sinfonieorchester, Philharmonia Narodowa, Brno Philharmonic, PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak State Philharmonic in Košice, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava, Czech Youth Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Olomouc, Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice and South Bohemian Philharmonic.

He is also invited to important festivals such as the Prague Spring Festival, Smetana’s Litomyšl, St. Wenceslas Music Festival and the Eufonia Festival.

At the National Theatre in Brno, Kružík directed his interpretation of Rossini’s opera Le Comte Ory, Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin, Smetana’s Libuše (performed on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia), Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Martinů’s Greek Passion and Verdi’s Otello. His wide operatic repertoire includes Mozart, Smetana, Dvořák, Martinů, Janáček, Donizetti, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini and others.

Born in Brno, he started as a cellist and later graduated from the Brno Conservatory where, in addition to playing cello (with Miroslav Zicha), he also studied conducting (with Stanislav Kummer). He continued his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague; his teachers in conducting were Leoš Svárovský, Charles Olivieri-Munroe and Lubomír Mátl, while his cello teacher was Miroslav Petráš. In the academic year 2012/2013 Kružík studied at the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland where he focused on both subjects.

Kružík performed with success at several cello competitions, such as the Prague Spring Festival, the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Interpretation Competition and Leoš Janáček International Competition. He broadened his experience and skills participating in master courses in cello performance under the guidance of Jiří Bárta, Michaela Fukačová and Raphael Wallfisch, and conducting with Norbert Baxa, Johannes Schlaefli and David Zinman.

Marek Eben is perhaps best known as a television moderator. He is the master of ceremonies for the popular Stardance competition, and since 1996 he has also been one of the prominent figures at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. However, as a graduate of the music drama department at the Prague Conservatoire, Eben is also a very active musician. Marek Eben is the son of Petr Eben, the late organist and composer, and he is carrying on father’s legacy in his own way as the exclusive author of songs for the band The Eben Brothers, which released its sixth album (Co my víme) at the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year. However, his work as a composer is not limited to his own band. He has written the music for the films Bizon and Hele on letí and for the television series Poste restante. He has also written music and texts for about 20 productions of plays including Othello at Studio Ypsilon and A Winter’s Tale at the National Theatre. On Czech Television, besides Stardance, he played a memorable part in the quiz show The Treasure of Agnes of Bohemia, and his talk show Na plovárně has become very popular. Marek Eben was twice the overall winner of the TýTý Prize, formerly awarded to the most popular television celebrities.