Ostrava Welcomes Young Musical Talents Once Again – The Ostrava Days Have Begun
Until the end of August, Ostrava will host the 13th biennale of the Ostrava Days festival, dedicated to contemporary classical music in all its forms. Nearly 200 musicians from across the globe are taking part in this year’s edition. A key element of the festival is the Ostrava Days Institute, a creative hub nurturing the next generation of composers.
Participants of the Ostrava Days Institute with Deputy Mayor Andrea Hoffmannová at the New City Hall. Photo: Lukáš Kaboň.
Organised as a summer school for young composers, the Institute once again attracted great interest, drawing applications from 18 countries across four continents. Under the guidance of Artistic Director Petr Kotík, 35 residents were selected to spend three weeks in Ostrava immersed in lectures, workshops, rehearsals, and performances of their own works – many of which will feature in the main festival programme. In this way, boundaries between emerging and established artists blur.
“Ostrava Days is a truly exceptional event – just saying that doesn’t capture the wonderfully mad spirit of it. You have to come and experience at least one evening overflowing with music,” says Czech composer and former Institute resident Marie Nečasová. Composer Tymon Zgorzelski adds: “The Ostrava Days Institute was not only an intense and unforgettable course, but also a place where I met many fascinating and passionate people.”
This year’s festival brings together familiar names such as Bernhard Lang (Austria) and Christopher Butterfield (Canada), who are presenting new works, alongside first-time guests including Swedish composer Lisa Streich, Cuban-American composer Tania León, and Serbian-born composer Snežana Nešić. Among the lecturers is Alex Mincek, who first attended the Ostrava Days in 2001 as a young composer and now returns as a celebrated artist and professor at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in the USA.
The festival is supported by the City of Ostrava. Deputy Mayor Andrea Hoffmannová welcomed the Institute participants at the New City Hall, introducing them to the city and discussing their musical projects, future plans, and impressions of Ostrava.
More about the Ostrava Days Institute: https://www.newmusicostrava.cz/cz/ostravske-dny/institut/
List of this year’s Institute residents: https://www.newmusicostrava.cz/cz/ostravske-dny/rezidenti-institutu/