THE BRNO PHILHARMONIC CHOIR - BESEDA BRNĚNSKÁ

The Brno Philharmonic Choir Beseda brněnská has the longest tradition among Czech choirs. A composer and choirmaster Pavel Křížkovský established the choir in 1860. Leoš Janáček had been its choirmaster for 12 years. He was heading the choir towards cantatas and oratorios and they remained the basic choir repertoire until present days. The choir performed Janáček's famous Glagolitic Mass under composer's conducting as the world premiere in 1928. Reprises of Glagolitic Mass were performed in Prague and Geneve.

Antonín Dvořák had been an honorary member of the choir for 20 years, and for some time also Bedřich Smetana.

Jan Řezníček, Jan Rozehnal, Petr Kolař and Stanislav Kummer held the choirmaster position later.

Petr Kolař, professor of the Brno conservatory and director of the choir at the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Brno, has been a head of the Brno Philharmonic Choir Beseda brněnská since 2001.

The choir gained awareness of the music public again under his leadership thanks to its constructive and energetic work. The mixed choir having now approximately 60 active singers cooperates with prominent home and foreign conductors and many significant orchestras.

There are not only big oratorios and masses in the repertoire of the Brno Philharmonic Choir but also smaller music pieces as motets and spiritual songs.

The choir also cooperates with ensembles of the contemporary popular music scene such as performances with the rock band Dizzy. The choir accompanied the world famous metal band Manowar on the festivals in Vizovice (Czech Republic) and Nuremberg (Germany) in summer 2006.

The choir will celebrate its 155th foundation anniversary in 2015.