Czech Chamber Music Society • Evgeny Kissin

“I recently composed a Trio for violin, cello, and piano about the current war in Ukraine; the first movement depicts the Russian invasion, the bombings, and the Ukrainian people’s sufferings; the second movement depicts the tragedy of Ukraine and its people. In it, I quoted two Ukrainian folk songs: “Ой, выйду ж я на могилу“ (“I’ll go to the grave”) and “Горе ж менi, горе” (“Woe is me, woe”). The Finale depicts the ultimate Ukrainian victory in which I believe. The first half of the third theme of the Finale is written in the Ukrainian style, the second half — in the Jewish style, and this symbolizes three things to me: the President of the Ukraine Volodimir Zelensky is a Jew. There are Israeli volunteers fighting in the Ukrainian army. I am a Jew who was born and grew up in Russia, and since my people have always been the greatest victims of the Russian xenophobia, I have always felt a strong sense of solidarity with all its other victims. Now the Ukrainians are the main victims of Russian xenophobia and imperialism, so I believe that we Jews should be their main allies.”

The Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81, is the more mature of Dvořák’s two compositions for this combination of instruments. Written between August and October 1887, the work reveals its creator’s mastery of instrumentation and of handling themes. Two of the movements have subtitles that suggest the presence of Slavic musical motifs, but the melancholic Dumka and the leaping Furiant are by no means the quintet’s only striking features. Dvořák skilfully combines Slavic elements with passages that make a cosmopolitan, generally European impression in the most representative sense. The quintet also radiates the serenity that Dvořák always felt at his summer residence in Vysoká. The quintet was premiered at the Rudolfinum on 6 January 1888 with the young Karel Kovařovic seated at the piano. It got a very warm reception both from critics and, for example, from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who heard it in Prague about a month after the premiere at one of the concerts held there in his honour. The quintet was also immediately heard abroad in such cities as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and London, and it helped bring Dvořák worldwide fame.

Czech Philharmonic concertmaster Jan Fišer was born into a musical family. He exhibited his obvious musical talent from an early age, winning many competitions (Kocian Violin Competition, Concertino Praga, UNESCO Tribune of Young Musicians, Beethoven’s Hradec etc.).

He began playing the violin under the guidance of Hana Metelková and later studied at the Prague Conservatory with Jaroslav Foltýn. He went through the famed summer program at the Meadowmount School of Music three times, where he met his future teacher, Andrés J. Cárdenes, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It was in this distinguished professor’s class that Jan Fišer graduated from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music in Pittsburgh in 2003. He furthered his musical education at numerous masterclasses led by, for example, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, and Joseph Silverstein.

Just as he was deciding whether to remain in the USA, the Prague Philharmonia announced an audition for the position of concertmaster. Fišer won the audition and stayed with the orchestra for sixteen years—until 2020, when he moved to the same position with the Czech Philharmonic, where he remains today. He has appeared as a guest concertmaster with the Bamberg Symphony, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

As a soloist, he has performed for audiences in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, France, and Poland, as well as in Japan. He has also participated in major music festivals (the Pau Casals International Music Festival in Spain, Murten Classics in Switzerland, and the Brevard Music Festival in the USA). He also performs with Czech orchestras, including the Prague Philharmonia, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, and the Czech Philharmonic, with whom he performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano alongside Václav Petr and Karolina Pancernaite in early 2026.

In addition to his extensive orchestral and solo activities, he is also dedicated to chamber music—together with pianist Ivo Kahánek and cellist Tomáš Jamník, he forms the Dvořák Trio, which ranks among the leading Czech chamber ensembles and has achieved success in renowned venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie and the Elbphilharmonie.

Jan Fišer also regularly records for television and radio, and as one of five laureates, he contributed to the CD A Tribute to Jaroslav Kocian for the 40th anniversary of the Kocian International Violin Competition. He is also active as an educator—serving as a mentor at the MenART scholarship academy and regularly teaching at music courses, including the Ševčík Academy in Horažďovice and the Telč Music Academy.

He plays a French violin from the early 19th century attributed to the luthier François-Louis Pique.

Petra Brabcová is a graduate of Prague’s Jan Neruda Grammar School, of the Prague Conservatoire, and of Michigan State University in the USA, where she studied under Charles Avsharian. She completed her studies at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts under Ivan Štraus. She is a laureate of several international competitions including Beethoven’s Hradec, the American String Teachers National Solo Competition, the Henri Marteau International Violin Competition, and Prague Spring 2010 (the Josef Suk Prize). She is also an experienced chamber music player. She plays in the Orbis Trio, which has won several international competitions and earned the 2010 Czech Chamber Music Society Award. She also plays in ensembles including the Prague Variations, the Baborák Ensemble, and the Prague Chamber Soloists. Besides appearing in chamber music and in orchestras, she also gives concerts as a soloist. From 2010 to 2014 she was a member of the Prague Philharmonia, and she is now the Czech Philharmonic’s principal second violinist.

Jiří Pinkas studied the violin and viola at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. During his studies, he became a laureate of the Conservatory competition in Ostrava (1999) and participated in numerous international interpretation master classes. As a soloist he has performed with the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Pardubice, Pilsen Philharmonic, Carlsbad Symphony Orchestra etc.

In 2001, he became the violist of the Bennewitz Quartet which counts among the best chamber ensembles on the international music scene. The quartet won the 1st prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Osaka, Japan (2005) and the 1st prize at the String Quartet Competition Premio Paolo Borciani in Italy (2008). The Bennewitz Quartet is regularly invited to the prestigious world stages (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Londonʼs Wigmore Hall, Rockefeller Center, New York, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Herkulessaal in Munich, Auditorio Nacional Madrid and others).

He has been concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic for more than a decade, has been performing as a soloist since the age of twelve, and also devotes himself to chamber music as a member of The Trio: the young cellist Václav Petr has established himself as one of the most successful artists of his generation.

He learned the basics of cello playing from Mirek Škampa at the Jan Neruda School in Prague, studied under Daniel Veis at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and then graduated under Michal Kaňka. He further perfected his playing under the guidance of Wolfgang Boettcher at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and participated in a number of international masterclasses in Kronberg, Hamburg, Vaduz, Bonn, and Baden-Baden. He has also achieved a remarkable number of competition successes since childhood (Prague Junior Note, International Cello Competition in Liezen, Austria, Talents of Europe, Concertino Praga) and gradually worked his way up to the most prestigious European competitions (semi-finalist in the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann competition, winner of the Prague Spring competition).

At the age of 24, he won an audition for the Czech Philharmonic, becoming one of the youngest concertmasters in the orchestra’s history. He has also performed several times as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic, including in 2024 at the Dvořák Prague Festival, where he played the world premiere of Petr Wajsar’s Concerto for cello under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher. He has also performed as a soloist with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, and the Baden-Baden Philharmonie.

Václav Petr has also enjoyed great success as a chamber musician. Between 2009 and 2020, he was a member of the Josef Suk Piano Quartet, with which he won first prizes in the chamber ensemble competition in Val Tidone, Italy, the Salieri-Zinetti chamber ensemble competition, and one of the most prestigious competitions for chamber ensembles with piano, the Premio Trio di Trieste. In 2019, together with Jiří Vodička, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, and pianist Martin Kasík, he founded the Czech Philharmonic Piano Trio, later renamed The Trio. In 2020, they recorded Bohuslav Martinů’s Bergerettes in period costumes and won an international competition in Vienna.

In the winter of 2026, Václav Petr performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano together with violinist Jan Fišer and pianist Karolina Pancernaite, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Giovanni Antonini. Critics praised his “brightness, wonderful articulation, and silvery tone.”

Václav Petr plays a master instrument from the workshop of Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, a Teschenmacher model from 1757, on loan from a private collection.

A musician of tremendous emotional power, depth, and expressiveness, Ivo Kahánek has gained a reputation as one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He is universally recognised as one of the foremost interpreters of Romantic piano music and is a particular specialist in Czech repertoire (awarded e.g. by Dispaison d’Or). He possesses a rare gift of creating an immediate and compelling emotional connection with his audiences. Kahánek came to public attention after winning the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2004 and performing at the 2007 Proms Festival with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiří Bělohlávek. He has collaborated with the most prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic (Sir Simon Rattle), the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, and many others. He is a graduate of the Janáček Conservatoire in Ostrava, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.