May Piano Evening in Salon Celetná

Concert programme:

F. Liszt: Liebestraum No. 3

A. Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53

Anna Gaálová (piano)

L. Janáček: Sonata 1.X. 1905

Pavol Praženica (piano)

S. Rachmaninov: Preludes from Op. 23 No. 3 in D minor, No. 6 in E flat major, No. 10 in G flat major and No. 5 in G minor

Eva Strejcová (piano)

B. Smetana.

J. Strauss/A. Grünfeld: Soirée de Vienne, Op. 56

Matouš Zukal (piano)

Anna Gaálová is a student of HAMU in Prague in the class of doc. Iva Kahánek. She studied at the Prague Conservatory with Milan Langer and completed a six-month internship at the Liszt Academy in Budapest with Gábor Eckhardt and Dávid Báll. She is a laureate of many national and international competitions (e.g. Pancho Vladigerov Piano Competition, Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition, International Smetana Competition). As a soloist she has performed with the Prague Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava as part of the "Young Soloists" series. She also gave concerts at the Rudolfinum in the chamber project of the Czech Philharmonic.

Eva Strejcová studies piano with doc. Lukáš Klánský at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, and before that she studied at the Teplice Conservatory with Roman Frič. She is a laureate of a number of piano competitions, among others she won 1st prize at the International Novák Piano Competition, 1st prize at the Pro Bohemia Competition in Ostrava and 1st prize at the Beethoven Teplice Piano Competition. Last year she made it to the main part of the prestigious Chopin Competition in Warsaw. As a soloist she has performed with the North Bohemian Philharmonic Teplice, the Pilsen Philharmonic and the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. She has also performed at the renowned Festival de Musique de Menton in France. She is a member of the piano trio Ars Essendi.

Pavol Praženica is currently studying piano at HAMU in Prague in the class of doc. Ivo Kahánek. He is a laureate of many national and international competitions, his most recent achievements include the victory at the Smetana Competition, the victory and 3 special prizes at the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition in Prague and the 1st prize at the Elevato Piano Competition in Porto, Portugal. As a soloist he performed with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He has been a soloist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, the State Chamber Orchestra Žilina and the Orchestra of the National Theatre in Prague. In addition to solo playing, he is also enthusiastic about chamber music. He has worked with Josef Špaček, Vilém Vlček and is a member of the Ernest Bloch Trio and the Vyšehrad Piano Trio.

Matouš Zukal is one of the outstanding representatives of the young generation of pianists. He is a laureate of the Prague Spring International Competition (2nd prize) and a winner of the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation, Concours International de Piano d'Ile-de-France and the Martha-Debelli-Stiftung Competition. As a soloist, he has collaborated with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed at the Prague Spring Festival, Dvořák's Prague, Smetana's Litomyšl, Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival and Concentus Moraviae, and has also appeared in the subscription series of the Czech Chamber Music Society. He studied at the Prague Conservatoire and HAMU with doc. Ivo Kahánek and Jan Bartos. He is currently continuing his doctoral studies and at the same time studying at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz in the class of Markus Schirmer.