Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava (JFO) presents the programme of its 73rd concert season, whose leitmotif is Fundament. This theme refers to the solid foundations on which the orchestra stands, its relationship with the audience, and its future. JFO is unveiling the new season at a time when the foundations of its future concert hall are beginning to be laid; the hall will form part of the VOX cultural complex. The upcoming season is also the first that the orchestra enters with Daniel Raiskin as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, and with a new artist-in-residence, Alena Baeva. The programme will offer major symphonic titles, exceptional guests, the return of renowned artists, as well as crossover projects at Gong — from an orchestral-visual production prepared with BoCirk for its 20th anniversary to a concert tribute to Věra Špinarová. In its symphonic cycles, the dramaturgy of the new concert season also reflects the 200th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest musical giants of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven, which will fall in 2027.

Koncertní řady Kalendář koncertů Online katalog Playlist 73. sezony

“When preparing the programme for the 73rd season, we primarily kept in mind the diversity of our audience. Alongside listeners who have been sharing classical music with us for a long time, we also want to appeal to those who come for a specific name, programme, or perhaps for the very first time. For us, the season theme ‘Fundament’ does not mean standing still, but rather solid foundations on which we can continue to build,” says JFO Director Jan Žemla.

The new season will be exceptional for JFO in that the orchestra will officially enter it for the first time with Daniel Raiskin as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. He sees his engagement in Ostrava as a natural continuation of his previous collaboration with JFO.“I have a long-standing artistic relationship with the Janáček Philharmonic and I greatly appreciate that we can now enter a new stage together. Ostrava is, for me, a place of extraordinary energy and courage to look ahead, which is immensely important in music as well as in life,” says Daniel Raiskin.Throughout the season, violinist Alena Baeva will also appear repeatedly, returning to Ostrava as artist-in-residence.“I am very happy to be able to play in Ostrava again and to make music with these musicians. You have a wonderful orchestra. It was truly extraordinary for me to discover in this orchestra such eagerness, such dedication to achieving the highest possible quality of playing, and such immense joy in making music together. These are the values that matter most to me. Returning to Ostrava in the role of artist-in-residence is truly an honour,” says Alena Baeva.

JFO AND DANIEL RAISKIN TO RELEASE A NEW SHOSTAKOVICH RECORDING

Among the major artistic projects marking Daniel Raiskin’s entry into his new role is also a new album to be released on 1 May by Challenge Classics. The recording of Shostakovich’s Sixth and Ninth Symphonies was made during 2025 and follows a long-term joint project mapping the composer’s symphonic oeuvre. JFO will launch the pre-sale of this exceptional CD in its e-shop on 16 April this year. For Daniel Raiskin, this title also has a personal dimension — the booklet notes were written by his father, Iosif Raiskin, who devoted his life to the study of Shostakovich’s work.

THE SYMPHONIC SERIES WILL BRING GREAT NAMES AND A TRIBUTE TO BEETHOVEN

The symphonic concert cycles of the 73rd season will feature leading personalities of classical music, key works of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as contemporary compositions. “Under the baton of Daniel Raiskin and other guest conductors, Ostrava will welcome world-class soloists such as Alena Baeva, Johannes Moser, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Anna Vinnitskaya, Vadim Gluzman and Magdalena Kožená. At the same time, the dramaturgy reflects the approaching 200th anniversary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven, among other things through performances of his Fifth Symphony, known as the Fate Symphony, which will be heard at two concerts in April 2027,” says Žemla. In the new season, JFO will also continue to develop the concept of its Classical Hour concerts, offering audiences three concerts. One of them will also feature Jörgen van Rijen, principal trombonist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.

SPECIAL CONCERTS, RECITALS AND A NEW FEATURE IN HUKVALDY 

In addition to the symphonic cycles, JFO will also offer a series of special evenings featuring prominent artists. As early as September, pianist Lukáš Vondráček will appear with the Ostrava orchestra under the direction of Andrey Boreyko at the St. Wenceslas Music Festival. The end of the year will belong to the traditional Christmas Concert with Jakub Jan Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass, while the New Year’s Concert will bring the return of Jan Lisiecki, one of the most sought-after pianists on today’s international stage.

“Exceptional personalities will also appear in the recital and chamber series. Ostrava will welcome pianists Piotr Anderszewski, Conrad Tao, Roman Borisov and Jan Čmejla, while the chamber concerts will be enriched by trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth, Trio Incendio, and artist-in-residence Alena Baeva, who will perform with pianist Vadym Kholodenko,” adds Žemla.

A new feature of the philharmonic season will be a salon concert in Hukvaldy. In the birthplace of Leoš Janáček, Martin Kasík will perform in October 2026 with a programme connecting the music of Frédéric Chopin and Leoš Janáček.

EPOPEY, MICHAEL JACKSON HITS AND A TRIBUTE TO VĚRA ŠPINAROVÁ AT GONG

The Gong series remains one of the most distinctive and best-attended parts of JFO’s programme. The industrial setting of Dolní Vítkovice gives these evenings a unique atmosphere and creates space for concerts that go beyond the framework of the classical symphonic repertoire.

The orchestral-visual production EPOPEY is being created in collaboration with BoCirk. This new circus and street theatre ensemble will celebrate 20 years of existence in 2026. It will transform Mucha’s Slav Epic into a contemporary stage production combining symphonic music, acrobatics, light and videomapping. “We invited Czech actor and theatre-maker Petr Forman to collaborate with us, as he works with image, illusion and physical presence on stage with exceptional sensitivity. This very way of connecting reality and its reflection is a key inspiration for us,” says the ensemble’s artistic director Václav Pokorný. Here, the Slav Epic does not serve merely as a visual point of departure, but as a powerful symbol of shared roots, identity and memory.

The evening Michael Jackson Symphony will offer symphonic arrangements of the King of Pop’s greatest hits by Martin Kumžák, performed by Dasha, Naďa Wepperová, Dušan Kollár and Dušan Marek, accompanied by JFO and the Moondance Orchestra.

The Gong series will also include a concert dedicated to Věra Špinarová, which JFO is preparing as a new original project paying tribute to the life’s work of this exceptional singer on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her death. Věra Špinarová remains inseparably connected with Ostrava through both her voice and her personality. Her songs will be heard in new symphonic arrangements by Jan Lstibůrek, performed by Markéta Matulová, acclaimed for her portrayal of Věra Špinarová in the Petr Bezruč Theatre production Špinarka. She will be joined by Tereza Mašková, one of the most distinctive faces of the Czech pop scene, and Eva Burešová, a native of Hlučín, known from music, television and musical theatre projects.

YOUNG TALENTS AND PROGRAMMES FOR FAMILIES

An important part of the 73rd season remains support for the younger generation — from the youngest listeners to emerging artists. This year, the Young Vitality series will present two concerts that will provide a platform for emerging singers, for many of whom performing with a large symphonic orchestra will often be their very first such experience. The guarantor of this edition is mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova, who has long collaborated with JFO. Support for young talent is also reflected in the International Orchestral Academies and an open call for composers, through which JFO systematically supports the next generation of performers and creators.

JFO devotes the same attention to cultivating future audiences. Therefore, the 73rd season will once again include concerts for families with children — alongside the popular Family Series D, chamber concerts for children intended for the youngest listeners from the age of three will also continue.“For the long term, we have been striving to ensure that listeners of all generations find their way to the philharmonic — from small children through students and emerging artists to mature audiences. Our goal is for music to become a natural part of everyone’s life, and for those who may one day create it or listen to it to be given space here as well,” says Petra Javůrková, JFO’s Head of Marketing and Sales.

DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS AND FESTIVALS

Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava will continue its concert activity both in the Czech Republic and abroad. In the upcoming season, it will appear, for example, at the festivals Smetana’s Litomyšl, the St. Wenceslas Music Festival, Allegretto Žilina, Murten Classics in Switzerland, and Štěrkovna Open Music, where it will perform with singer-songwriter Janek Ledecký. In July of this year, the orchestra will also perform at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with cellist Bryan Cheng under the baton of its Chief Conductor Daniel Raiskin. The philharmonic musicians are thus building on their extraordinarily successful first tour of Great Britain, which took place in February of this year. “At London’s Cadogan Hall, I was able to witness an exceptionally strong audience response to the performance of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. Moments like these confirm that JFO is a cultural jewel of Ostrava and at the same time makes a significant contribution to building the city’s good name abroad. This makes me all the more pleased that the philharmonic has received another invitation to Great Britain and is now negotiating its return in 2028,” said Lucie Baránková Vilamová, Deputy Mayor of the Statutory City of Ostrava.

TICKET SALES OPEN

JFO will launch online ticket and subscription sales for the 73rd concert season on Wednesday, 16 April 2026. Tickets will also once again be available for purchase in person, from Monday, 20 April, at Janáček Point. For existing subscribers, excluding Kombi subscriptions, seats will be reserved until 15 May 2026; after this date, they will be released for further sale. Ticket sales and more information are available here.

You can tune into the season on Spotify or YouTube.

THE LEOŠ JANÁČEK FESTIVAL PRODUCED BY JFO FOR THE FIRST TIME

The year 2026 will also be significant for the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival, which will be presented under JFO’s production for the first time. The festival will offer top orchestras and soloists, chamber concerts, crossover projects and programmes for families with children. In addition to Ostrava, the festival will also visit Hukvaldy, Opava, Frýdek-Místek, Nový Jičín, Příbor, and newly also the renovated Hukvaldy Courtyard. More information about the festival can be found at www.mujhudebnifestival.cz

VOX AS JFO’S FUTURE HOME

The presentation of the 73rd season comes at a time when Ostrava already knows the name of JFO’s future home. The new cultural centre will bear the name VOX — Latin for voice. It is intended to symbolise the voice of a modern cultural city.“VOX is much more for Ostrava than merely the name of a building. It stands for a place that aspires to become a truly vibrant cultural centre of the city, one that has something to say. It will also be the home of Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, and I am very pleased that an orchestra of this level will have adequate facilities after more than 70 years of its existence. The people of Ostrava will finally have the opportunity to hear their orchestra in its full strength,” says Jan Dohnal, Mayor of the Statutory City of Ostrava.

With the new name also comes a new visual identity, created by the Czech graphic studio Gradual. VOX’s new visual identity is based on Janáček’s theory of sčasování — sounding, counting and summation. It thus transforms a musical principle into a contemporary visual language. At the same time, it reflects the relationship between the original building of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava and the new extension.

The new visual identity under which VOX Ostrava will present itself emerged from a two-phase non-anonymous closed competition, organised by the future operator of the building in cooperation with Czechdesign.

More information about VOX’s new visual identity can be found at www.voxostrava.cz