Slávka Pěchočová

After her graduation from the conservatory in Pardubice under the guidance of prof .M. Hršel she studied piano in Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts with Ivan Moravec from 1998-2003. Afterwards, in 2007 she completed her doctoral studies. The theme of her dissertation was the complete work by Leoš Janáček. Pěchočová also participated in master courses held by Nelly Akopian, and in 2002 she completed the graduate program at the Royal College of Music in London. She won the International Smetana’s piano competition in Hradec Králové in 1996 and is a laureate of several other domestic and foreign performance competitions, Wroclav 1995, Missouri 1998, and Wales 2001. She played repeatedly for the Youth Podium Festival in Carlsbad, and in 2004 she was invited as a soloist for the matinee concert in Prague’s Spring Festival.Pěchočová played with various orchestras at their home bases (Czech philharmony, FOK, etc.) as well as abroad (Gunma Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra) conducted by Libor Pešek, Jiří Bělohlávek, Martin Turnovský, Jakub Hrůša, etc. In the summer of 2009 she was invited to be a guest player with BBC’s Symphony Orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall in London during the Prom’s Festival. She also performed solo recitals in series of concerts (e.g. World Piano Music in Prague, Tonhalle in Zurich, Concert Series in Osaka,etc.). The pianist also pursues chamber music: she plays in a piano duet and a piano trio (Kinsky Trio Prague) and she is a sought-after partner for collaboration among leading instrumentalists and ensembles in the Czech music scene. Czech television broadcasted a 40 minute documentary of her life in 2002 (directed by Jan Mudra).

www.pechocova.cz 

Violinist, violist and conductor

Petr Verner (*1963), son of Pavel Verner, began his viola studies with outstanding Czech viola soloist Jan Pěruška. He was then a pupil of Jiří Zika at the Prague Conservatory, graduating from that school in 1986 to continue his studies with Milan Škampa, Lubomír Malý and Jan Pěruška at the same city's AcaQuartet demy of Music (1986-1991). From here it was primarily the celebrated Czech violinist and conductor Josef Vlach who was to have a fundamental influence on his career. Petr Verner participated in international chamber music courses under the guidance of F. Beyer, C. Poppen and E. Feltz in Germany, and with the Melos in Switzerland. In 1985 he became Principal Viola with the Czech Chamber Orchestra and a member of the Vlach Quartet of Prague, with whom he appeared until 2005. With the latter ensemble he gave concerts in the USA, Japan, New Zealand and most countries within Europe. He is currently a member of the Verner Collegium, the New Pražák Quartet and the Gabriela Demeterová Collegium, and principal conductor of the BKO. In 2006 he entered into a regular conducting partnership with the prestigious Roxy Ensemble chamber orchestra, whom he has directed in works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Schönberg and Marko Ivanović to date. He has made solo appearances with a number of orchestras including the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Czech Chamber Orchestra, the South Bohemian Philharmonia and the Talich Chamber Orchestra. His discography comprises forty CD recordings covering a wide range of chamber and solo repertoire from all periods in music history.

www.vernercollegium.cz