Valery Gergiev

Valery Gergiev has been Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre since 1996. Following his tenure as Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra for nearly a decade, he will open his first season with the Munich Philharmonic in September 2015. He is also Principal Conductor of the World Orchestra for Peace.

Valery Gergiev is the founder of many festivals not only in St. Petersburg, such as the Stars of the White Night festival, the Mariinsky ballet, piano and organ festivals, but also the Moscow Easter Festival, the Mikkeli Festival (Finland), the Gergiev Festival (the Netherlands), to name just a few.

Under his direction the Mariinsky T.heatre’s opera and ballet repertoires have become richer and more diverse, now including a broad range of works from 18^th to 20^th century classics as well as music by contemporary composers.

Thanks to Gergiev’s initiative and driving force, 2006 saw the opening of the Concert Hall, which with its unique stage as well as orchestra pit provides numerous possibilities for orchestra and staged performances. Renowned for its excellent acoustics, the Concert Hall has become the main venue for the recordings of the Mariinsky label, founded by Valery Gergiev in 2009. To date, the label has released over twenty-five recordings that received lavish praise from press and public alike, winning many awards.

The new stage of the Mariinsky Theatre (also referred to as Mariinsky II) was inaugurated in May 2013. Ever since, over 100 performances, concerts, lectures are presented monthly on the three stages and four chamber music halls of the Mariinsky complex.

Maestro Gergiev has put great efforts into enhancing music education, not only by increasing music programs for young audiences, but also furthering young people’s active participation; one example was the creation of the Children’s Chorus of Russia, founded in 2014.

Valery Gergiev conducts at leading opera houses and with orchestras all over the world. His numerous awards and prizes include prestigious government decorations from Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, the Netherlands and Poland. He is Co-Chairman of the Organizational Committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition and Chairman of the All-Russian Choral Society.

Josef Špaček

The young Czech violinist Josef Špaček is fast emerging as one of the most accomplished violinists of his generation. He has been guided by highly regarded pedagogues, including Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music and Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School. In May 2012 he was finalist of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels; in 2009 Josef won the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand) and both Third Prize and the Young People’s Jury Prize at the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in 2008. He currently combines a flourishing solo career with the position of concert master of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Future and recent concert highlights include solo performances with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek and Jakub Hrůša (including concerts in Prague, his debut in the Musikverein in Vienna in March 2015, a 5 concert tour in the UK in April 2015, and in the USA and Australia), the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Alondra de la Parra, the Essener Philharmoniker and Tomáš Netopil in June 2015, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg and Jiří Bělohlávek in December 2014, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Giordano Bellincampi, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Janáček Philharmonic, the Martinu Philharmonic, the Erkel Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and recital appearances in Europe (including at the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and at Schloß Elmau), Asia and the USA.

Josef has previously appeared with among others the Philadelphia Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Czech Chamber Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic and the Russian Chamber Philharmonic. So far he has worked with conductors including Jiří Bělohlávek, Jakub Hrůša, Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, James DePreist, Asher Fisch, Roy Goodman, Eliahu Inbal and Rossen Milanov.

A regular at music festivals, Josef has performed at the Dvorák Prague Festival, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Bohuslav Martinu Festival and the Moravian Autumn Music Festival.

In April 2013 the Supraphon label released Josef’s first recital recording which has been garnering excellent reviews. Together with pianist Miroslav Sekera he performs works by Janáček, Smetana and Prokofiev. In October 2014 he will record his second CD for this label, this time together with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Jiří Bělohlávek. His 2010 recording of various works by H.W. Ernst was released on Naxos in March 2013. In 2006 he recorded his debut CD featuring the complete sonatas for solo violin by Eugène Ysaÿe.

The Forbes Magazine in the Czech Republic included Josef Špaček in their 2014 list of most influential “30 under 30” people.

Josef Špaček plays a violin made in 1855 in the workshop of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.