Petr Bernášek

first violinist of the M. Nostitz Quartet, teacher at the Jan Deyl Conservatory and the Jan Hanuš Elementary Art School, and former pupil of Alberto Lysy at the Yehudi Menuhin Academy in Switzerland.

During his violin studies at the Prague Conservatoire, Czech Republic, in the classes of Professors František Anděl and František Pospíšil, Petr Bernášek participated in the Academy of Y. Menuhin in Switzerland under Professor Alberto Lysy. In the years 1992-1996 he continued with his studies at the Academy of Music in Prague, Czech Republic, in the violin class of Professor Jiří Tomášek and in the chamber music class of Václav Bernášek.

During his university studies he participated in a four-month study at CNSMDP in Paris, France, with Professors Jacques Ghestem and Joseph Golan. Under the guidance of the members of the Alban Berg Quartet, he continued to study chamber music together with the M. Nostitz Quartet in Vienna, Austria, in the years 1996-1998. Petr Bernášek is a founder member of the M. Nostitz Quartet, which participated in the International Chamber Music Masterclasses in Semering, Austria, under the Amadeus, Bartok, and Alban Berg Quartets.

As a student, Petr Bernášek won the Third Prize in the Competition of Beethoven’s Hradec, Czech Republic, and together with the pianist Petr Jiříkovský he was a finalist in the International Sonata Competition “Vierzon” in France. With the M. Nostitz Quartet he won the Second Prize and the Prize of Bohuslav Martinů in the International Competition of Prague Spring and in the year 1997 the ensemble won the International Competition in Cremona, Italy.

Since 1995 Petr Bernášek has been tutoring regularly at the International Chamber Music Courses “La Pellegrina” in Bechyně and České Budějovice, Czech Republic. In the years 2006-2012 he taught violin at the Conservatoire in Teplice, Czech Republic, and since the year 2011 he has been teaching at the Music School of Jan Hanuš in Prague, Czech Republic.

Since 1994 Petr Bernášek has been a primarius of the M. Nostitz Quartet.

Daniel Glineur

emeritus professor at the Académie de Musique d’Ath in Belgium and juror of international competitions, organiser of projects promoting Czech artists and composers.

Violin and viola teacher in various music schools in Belgium since 1980. He also leads various orchestral or chamber music formations specially dedicated to young musicians. Daniel Glineur organizes numerous projects highlighting Czech artists and composers in Belgium with the support of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Brussels. It also organizes numerous concerts dedicated to the promotion of talented young Belgian and foreign musicians.

He is frequently invited to participate to orchestral projects in Albania, Guatemala, Mexico, Montenegro, Spain and even Mongolia. Daniel also participates in various juries of violin competitions as the Kocian competition in Usti nad Orlici, but also in Albania and Cuba.

His students participate in various competitions (violin and quartet for example) or hold positions in orchestras or musical institutes. Unexpected observation: one of his students has become Belgium’s top jazz violinist!

Ada Slivanská

Executive Director of I-AME, long-standing chamber musician and concert producer, founder of Quartetto con flauto and organiser of international music projects.

Executive Director of I-AME, long-standing chamber musician and concert producer, founder of the ensemble Quartetto con flauto and organiser of international music projects.

She graduated from the Prague Conservatory in violin (class of Břetislav Ludvík) and composition (class of Jan Zdeněk Bartoš). For many years she studied violin privately with Professor Marie Hlouňová. In 1986 she completed her studies in musicology at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague.

After a year with the Central Bohemian Symphony Orchestra in Poděbrady she joined the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (then the Symphony Orchestra of Czechoslovak Radio), where she played for twenty years before leaving in order to devote herself more fully to solo and chamber performance and to music management. From 2004 to 2009 she was a member of the orchestra of the Prague State Opera.

She has been dedicated to chamber music since her conservatory years. She is the founder of the chamber ensemble Quartetto con flauto, with which she has recorded four CDs, made numerous recordings for radio and television and toured extensively in many European countries and overseas. She has performed regularly throughout the Czech Republic and has been invited to international festivals.

Alongside her work as a performing violinist she teaches privately, and several of her pupils have gone on to continue their studies at conservatoires. In 2024–2025 she taught and served as head of the string department at the International Conservatory in Prague.

As a manager she has produced CDs and organised concerts, including her own subscription series. She has worked as artistic adviser to the Podblanický podzim festival and as manager of the Talich Chamber Orchestra and later the Czech Chamber Orchestra. From 1997 she collaborated on the Prague Horn – Lesní roh Praha festival, which later became part of the international festival Praha, klasika. From summer 2019 to September 2022 she was the manager of violinist Pavel Šporcl and of the ŠPORCL ARTS Agency.

From 1998 to 2021 she served as Executive Director of the international festival and chamber music courses Ameropa. After leaving this post she founded her own courses under the name I-AME in 2021, which she continues to develop with an international team of teachers and collaborators.

Ann Marie Pocklembo

High school orchestra director in Hamilton Township, NJ, adjunct faculty member at Mercer County Community College and New Jersey City University.

Ann Marie Pocklembo is an American violinist and violist whose career has long been focused on orchestral playing and music education for young people. She has over thirty years of teaching experience and has served for more than twenty-eight years as high school orchestra director in the Hamilton Township Public Schools (New Jersey, USA), having previously taught in the Monroe–Woodbury school district in New York State. She holds K–12 Music certification and is an adjunct faculty member at Mercer County Community College and in the Department of Music, Dance and Theatre at New Jersey City University.

As a violinist she has performed in the United States, China, Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic, and has appeared sixteen times at Carnegie Hall in New York. In addition to her work in schools she performs with regional orchestras and chamber ensembles and has extensive experience as a professional musician in a variety of musical settings.

At I-AME she works as a faculty member, gladly sharing her long-term experience with young musicians.

Věra Binarová

Artistic Director of I-AME, member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, teacher at the Ilja Hurník Elementary Art School and at the Grammar School and Music School of the City of Prague, soloist and chamber player

Věra Binarová studied at the Conservatory in Pardubice and Academy of Music in Prague. She continued her studies in music at the School of Music in Vienna (Hochschule für Muzik) and through private lessons with Prof. Marie Hlounová. As part of her education, she attended interpretation courses (Germany, Austria) and played in the orchestra of the Yehudi Manuhin Foundation (France 1991-92).

In 1994-2010, she was a solo violist at the Talich Chamber Orchestra where she performed in concerts in many European countries and Japan, and also participated in multiple CD recordings. Věra Binarová is also an active chamber musician. In 1998-2002, she was a member of the Jupiter string quartet and currently cooperates with the Capella Sancta Caecilia (Art Manager Ivan Ženatý). She is often asked to perform in chamber concerts as a chamber partner. Her first solo performance was in 1996 at a festival concert in Wiesbaden, Germany. Besides regularly performing solo with the Talich Chamber Orchestra, she cooperates with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Pilsner Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of Western Bohemia in Marianské Lázně, Philharmony of Košice (Slovakia) and Sant Gellert Festival Orchestra (Hungary). She also collaborates with well-known violists including Jan Talich and Shizuka Ishikava. She records for Czech Radio and performed in the Cycle of Chamber Concerts for the Czech Philharmonic at the Bohemia Magica Festival (France 2002), Sarajevos winter (2005) and the International music festival in Český Krumlov 2011.

Since 2006, she has been periodically performing with the Salzburg Chamber Philharmony. Her repertoire covers all the major works of the viola as well as works of contemporary Czech composers such as J. Filas, O. Mácha, A. Skoumal, J. Teml, L. Sluka. Besides all of her performance responsibilities, Věra Binarová has maintained a healthy viola studio and truly enjoys teaching. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK.

Barbora Linke-Holická

Violist and Associate Professor of Viola at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, member of the Prague Chamber Soloists and artistic director of the festival “Rokytnice zní – Music and Literature Days” in Rokytnice nad Jizerou.

Violist Barbora Linke-Holická is a graduate of the Prague Conservatory. She continued her studies in the class of Professor Kim Kashkashian at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin and completed her education in the class of Professor Wolfram Christ at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg im Breisgau, where she was awarded her soloist diploma with distinction.

With the Kastalia Quartett she was for many years a scholarship holder of the Villa Musica chamber music academy, and she is a graduate of the opera orchestra academy of the Zurich Opera House as well as the academy of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. She is a prize-winner of numerous competitions, including Beethovenův Hradec, the Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen, the Carl Flesch Academy and the Gustav Scheck Prize.

She performs with many leading European chamber orchestras, among them the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Academica Salzburg, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. She is a member of the ensemble Prague Chamber Soloists and collaborates regularly with the Baborák Ensemble in Prague. Her chamber music partners include the Oberon Trio, Henja Semmler, Robert Hill, Tanja Tetzlaff, Marco Thomas, the Signum Quartett, members of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and members of the Czech Philharmonic.

Barbora Linke-Holická is deeply committed to historically informed performance on period instruments and also plays the viola d’amore. She appears frequently with early-music ensembles such as La festa musicale and La Scintilla Zürich. She is principal violist of the contemporary-music ensemble Risonanze erranti in Munich, which collaborates closely with young composers; with this ensemble she has premiered, performed and recorded numerous contemporary works, including the Stabat Mater for viola and baritone by German composer Wolfgang Rihm.

In 2022 she founded the festival Rokytnice zní – Hudebně-literární dny v Rokytnici nad Jizerou (Rokytnice Sounds – Music and Literature Days), for which she serves as artistic director and programmer. The festival focuses on Czech–German cultural history and on the connection between music and literature. She actively promotes Czech culture abroad and collaborates with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Germany.

Since 2022 she has devoted herself with great enthusiasm to teaching young musicians as Associate Professor of Viola at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen and serves on the juries of various competitions. She plays a viola made by Alexander Švýcarský in 1999, and lives with her family in Bremen, Prague and Rokytnice nad Jizerou.

Václav Slivanský

Long-time principal flutist of the Prague State Opera orchestra, founder of the ensemble Quartetto con flauto, an active teacher in basic music education.

Václav Slivanský studied at the Prague Conservatory with Jan Hecl and at the Academy of Performing Arts with František Čech, where at the same time he also took part in the founding of the chamber ensemble Quartetto con flauto. Since completing his studies, he has been the first flutist of the orchestra of the Prague State Opera, and he has been active as a pedagogue for many years. He appears frequently as a soloist and a performer of chamber music.

In 1973 he founded Quartetto con flauto together with his future wife Ada Slivanská while they were studying at the Prague Conservatory. The ensemble, at 2008 year celebrating its 35th year of existence, was very successful right from the beginning, participating in several competitions and winning such honors as the Dušek Competition of the Mozart Foundation in Prague and the title of laureate at an international competition in Kroměříž. Over the years of its artistic activities, the ensemble has become highly regarded, giving concerts not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The ensemble has toured the USA twice and has represented the Czech Republic in Sakai, Japan, on the occasion of an Alfons Mucha exhibition.

Quartetto con flauto has made several recordings for Czech Radio (this CD contains a selection of those recordings) and for Czech Television. Two of its radio recordings represented Czech Radio in Paris in 1993 and 1994 at an international festival of contemporary music. The ensemble has a very large repertoire. Although the ensemble’s instrumentation predetermines its choice of musical material from the baroque and classical periods, this is counterbalanced by 20th-century music. Many works have been composed for and dedicated to the ensemble. The ensemble’s interpretations have been recorded on three separate compact discs (“Czech Classical and Contemporary Music” – Bonton 1990, “Czech Sonata” – Bohemia Music 1993, “Czech Contemporary Music” – Bohemia Music 1995 and “Quartetto con flauto” – Radioservis 2008). Compositions by Jan Jirásek and Lukáš Hurník dedicated to the ensemble are also found on CDs profiling those composers.

Johanna Cox Pennington

Professor of Oboe at the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music, internationally acclaimed soloist and teacher.

She joined the faculty of the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music in Ohio in 2023 as Professor of Oboe, where she serves as program coordinator for the woodwind, brass and percussion areas and teaches oboe, chamber music and woodwind literature. Prior to this appointment, she served for eleven years as associate professor of oboe at the Louisiana State University School of Music and was a member of the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra for seventeen seasons.

A graduate of Northwestern University and the Eastman School of Music, Pennington was chosen for Eastman’s Freiburg Exchange Program, which took her to Germany to study with renowned soloist Heinz Holliger at the Freiburg Musikhochschule. She won her first concerto competition in her hometown of Rochester, New York, at the age of seventeen and appeared as a soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Of her solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 2005, the New York Concert Review wrote: “…her technique is absolutely first rate, Miss Cox played with beautiful tone, even in the highest register and at the loudest dynamic. She is an oboist that any orchestra would be fortunate to have on its roster.”

Pennington has recorded on Albany Records with the Prairie Winds and the Musical Arts Quintet, and in 2018 Albany released her first solo album, Orion Nocturne, featuring five newly commissioned works for oboe and English horn, including a concerto recorded with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto.

She has performed with many notable orchestras, including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony. Pennington has taught oboe clinics, given master classes, and appeared as concerto soloist and recitalist at major universities, taking her in recent years to Europe, South America, Asia and throughout the United States. “Johanna will have a positive impact on the world of music, on those who study with her, as well as those who hear her perform,” notes the Eastman School of Music.

Miloslav Tengler

Director of the Jan Hanuš Elementary Art School in Prague and long-time teacher of clarinet, saxophone and recorder.

Miloslav Tengler studied clarinet at the Prague Conservatory where he graduated in 1979. He continued his education in recent years, when he completed an accredited school management study at the Faculty of Education of the Charles University.

Since 1980 he has been teaching the young generation, and his pedagogy practice is more than 37 years long. Currently he works at Jan Hanuš Art Basic School as a director and a pedagogue (clarinet, saxophone and recorder).

At the same time he is a teacher of woodwinds instruments at the Jaroslav Ježek School for the visually impaired (recorder, clarinet, saxophone, flute). In the past, he was a pedagogue at Jan Deyl Conservatory, a deputy director at the Gymnasium and Music School of the City of Prague, or was a deputy director at Art Basic School Voršilská.

As a clarinetist he worked for 15 years in the AUS Symphony Orchestra and in the Czechoslovak State Folk of Songs and Dances.

Sancho Sánchez Gil

Spanish performer and educator, Yamaha-Spain Clarinet Artist and specialist in the Spanish Clarinet School.

Sancho Sánchez (*Madrid) began his musical training with his father and was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Madrid at the age of 13, graduating with honors under Vicente Peñarrocha. He pursued further studies with renowned clarinetists, including Antony Pay, Guy Deplus, and Michel Arrignon.

At 16, he became Principal Clarinetist of the Madrid Amusement Park Band, and at 17, he secured the same role in the Community of Madrid Student Symphony Orchestra. He successfully auditioned for the European Union Youth Orchestra and the World Orchestra of Musical Youths. In 1999, he won the National Casting for Solo Clarinetist at Universal Studios Port Aventura.

As a soloist and orchestral musician, he has performed in prestigious venues, including Philharmonie Berlin, Bastille Opera Paris, Metropolitan Opera New York, and Chicago Symphony Center. He has collaborated with artists such as Montserrat Caballé, Ainhoa Arteta, and Ana Belén, and participated in a tribute concert for Plácido Domingo’s 70th birthday.

He was a finalist in the III International Clarinet Competition “Villa de Montroy” and has participated in final auditions for Orchestre Philharmonique de la Loire, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Paris, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York).

He has worked as a soloist and orchestral musician with major ensembles such as the Spanish Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of the Romanian Opera, European Symphony Orchestra of the Mediterranean, Transylvania Festival Orchestra, and Madrid International Orchestra.

Since 2003, he has been teaching at Madrid conservatories, including CPM Amaniel, and has been invited as a lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has also held teaching positions at conservatories in Ponferrada, Salamanca, and Ávila, led the Yamaha-Hazen masterclasses, and since 2021 has been a professor at the I-AME International Music Course in Prague.

His research focuses on the Spanish Clarinet School, and his master’s thesis explored the influence of Vicente Peñarrocha. In 2024, composer Zulema de la Cruz dedicated her Third Clarinet Concerto to him, which he will premiere.

Sancho Sánchez is a Yamaha-Spain Clarinet Artist and performs on the Custom CSG III model.

Tereza Novotná

Graduate of the University of Ostrava and the Prague Conservatory, member of the ATAM Saxophone Quartet, active promoter of Czech saxophone music and teacher at the International Conservatory in Prague and the Ratibořická Music School.

Tereza Novotná graduated from the University of Ostrava with a degree in saxophone performance, studying under Dr. Zbigniew Kaleta. In 2016, she completed a year-long internship with Dr. hab. Pawel Gusnar at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She is also a graduate of the Prague Conservatory, where she studied clarinet (2012) and saxophone (2014) under Pavel Fiedler, finishing her studies with a performance of Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto accompanied by the Talich Chamber Philharmonic.

She was awarded a scholarship from the Czech Music Fund Foundation in the academic years 2012/2013, 2016/2017, and 2018/2019. A major success in her career was her repeated participation in the international project European Saxophone Ensemble, with which she toured most EU countries in 2011 and 2012/2013. As a soloist, she has performed with the Talich Chamber Philharmonic, the Czech Chamber Orchestra, and the Paseka Chamber Orchestra. In 2015, she founded the ATAM Saxophone Quartet and Duo Altera, with which she performed at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2018. In 2017, she premiered Jiří Slabihoudek’s Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra, and reprised the work the following year.

Currently, she collaborates with various chamber and orchestral ensembles, including the Bohemia Saxophone Quartet, the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), BERG Orchestra, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestra of the F. X. Šalda Theatre, among others. She also performs in theatrical productions at the Na Zábradlí Theatre, the Vinohrady Theatre, and the ABC Theatre. She has long been dedicated to promoting Czech music for saxophone and actively supports the creation of new compositions, having premiered over 20 world premieres. She teaches at the International Conservatory in Prague and at the Ratibořická Elementary Art School.

Kristín Mjöll Jakobsdóttir

head of the music school in Vesturbyggð, founder of the Hnúkatheyr Wind Octet and a prominent figure on the Icelandic music scene.

Kristín Mjöll Jakobsdóttir holds a Master’s Degree from Yale School of Music where she studied with professor Arthur Weisberg, and a Certificate Diploma from Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam where she studied with Joep Terwey. She was working towards an Artist Diploma at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Ohio with William Winstead, when she moved to Hong Kong where she spent seven years working as a freelance bassoonist, including playing with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra 1991-1992 and teaching at the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts. Kristín returned to her native Iceland in 1998 and is regularly on call with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera Orchestra, as well as being active in the local chamber music scene. She has been Head Master of the Music School in Vesturbyggd, Iceland, since August 2020. She has been a regular member of the Ameropa Chamber Music Courses in Prague since 2015.

Kristín formed the Hnúkatheyr Wind Octet in 2003, which has commissioned several new Icelandic works, and celebrates its´s 20th Anniversary this year. Kristín has premiered various Icelandic works for solo bassoon. Her CD, Journey, which includes five world premiere recordings of Icelandic music, was published in 2016 by Smekkleysa. Kristin has performed as soloist in Iceland, Hong Kong, Prague and in the USA and in 2018 she gave masterclass and performance at the Conservatory of Gabriel Fauré in Angouléme, France, 2018 upon invitation by Prof. Franck Leblois.

Kristín has been influential in the Icelandic music life, as Chairman of the Society of Icelandic Musicians and board member of the Federation of Icelandic Artists in 2008-2012, and board member of the Reykjavik Arts Festival in 2012-2014. She has been a project manager and producer of several music projects, festivals and tours on behalf of the Operarctic Society, the Caput Ensemble, the South Iceland Chamber Choir, the Blueberry Music Festival and the Society of Icelandic Musicians. Kristin is also a founding member of Harpa International Music Academy in Reykjavík.

Jakub Šefl

trumpeter and educator active in jazz, classical and folk music, teacher of trumpet and ensemble playing at the Pštrossova Music School in Prague and improvisation coach at I-AME.

Jakub Šefl will teach trumpet at I-AME 2025 and will also lead an improvisation seminar, open to all participants regardless of instrument or level of experience. You can register for individual lessons via the I-AME application form; registration for improvisation lessons will be available on-site during free time.Are you curious about improvisation but don’t know how to start?
Would you like to overcome your fear of improvising?
Do you already improvise a little but don’t know how to move forward?

Then this seminar is just right for you.

You can use improvisation in jazz, blues, folk, rock, classical music – or completely freely, without limits. Each style has its own rules and approaches, and you’ll get to know them during the sessions.

What you need:
– any musical instrument
– basic technical skills
– a desire to create, experiment, enjoy, and play with music

What you’ll gain:
– new ideas and motivation
– shared musical experiences
– a universal musical language

Age and number of participants: unlimited

Seminar Topics:

• What is improvisation
• Free improvisation and its various forms
• Blues: history, call and response, blue tones, blues scale
• 12-bar blues and its basic harmonic form; use of the blues scale and options for transposition
• Chords and chord symbols; tone selection in solos, the concept and purpose of a guideline
• Pentatonics, scales, Ionian system
• More complex scales: diminished, whole-tone, altered, augmented
• Licks – what they are, how to create and use them
• Transcribing and learning solos, the importance of active listening
• Improvisation workshops and inspiring musical activities

About the Instructor:

Jakub Šefl is a trumpeter and educator who focuses on jazz, classical, and folk music. He began improvising already as a student at the B. Smetana Elementary Art School in Plzeň. He studied trumpet at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague (2004–2010) under Professor Zdeněk Zahálka. He later completed his studies at the same school’s Higher Professional Program (2014–2018), under Professors František Tomšíček, Štěpánka Balcarová, and Miroslav Hloucal.

Since 2010, he has been teaching trumpet and recorder at the Jesenice Elementary Art School, and since 2021 also at the Pštrossova Elementary Art School in central Prague. He is an active member of the bands Mariachi Azteca de Praga and Hot Wings.

Jana Vondráčková

teacher of piano, chamber music and piano pedagogy at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Ostrava and at the Church Conservatory of the Teutonic Order in Opava, active soloist and chamber musician.

Jana Vondráčková (née Szuściková) graduated from the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava under the guidance of Mgr. Milada Šlachtová and from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU) in the class of Prof. František Malý. She then completed a postgraduate program in solo piano performance at the Academy of Music in Krakow under the tutelage of Doc. Marek Koziak. Her education culminated in a doctoral program under Prof. Ivan Klánský, whose piano teaching methodology she examined in her dissertation.

During her studies, Jana received several awards in national and international competitions, including “Virtuosi per pianoforte” in Ústí nad Labem, the national round of the ZUŠ competition, both national and international rounds of the F. Chopin competition in Mariánské Lázně, and “Nueva Acropilis” in Madrid. She represented AMU in Prague at the European Piano Stage in Berlin and AMU in Krakow at the Turniej Pianistów in Antonin. She participated in international interpretation courses led by L. Berman, E. Indjic, P. Jasmin, W. Groppenberger, I. Klánský, among others.

Jana worked long-term as an assistant professor in the field of accompaniment at the Department of String Instruments and the Department of Solo Singing at the Faculty of Arts, Ostrava University. She was also a sought-after chamber musician and accompanist at international interpretation courses and competitions. Since 2008, she has been teaching piano, chamber music, methodology, history, and piano literature at the Department of Keyboard Instruments at the Faculty of Arts in Ostrava and the Church Conservatory of the Teutonic Order in Opava.

Jana continuously engages in concert performances, recording, and lecturing activities in the Czech Republic and abroad (Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Spain, etc.). In recent years, she has frequently taught at international interpretation courses and performs in a piano duo with MgA. Alexandr Starý.

Šárka Janíková

Collaborative pianist and chamber musician at the Ilja Hurník Elementary Art School and the International Conservatory in Prague, specialising in chamber and contemporary music.

Šárka Janíková graduated from the Brno Conservatory under the guidance of Mgr. art. Pavla Reiffersová, ArtD., then continued her studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of doc. Boris Krajný. She concluded the Academy with a performance of S. Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, under the baton of Tomáš Stanček. She currently works as an accompanist at the I. Hurník Art School and at the International Conservatory of Prague in the Department of Classical Singing and String Instruments. She occasionally collaborates with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and at the Prague Spring Festival she performed with the Czech Philharmonic in a performance of Symphony No. 4. Ch. Ives under the baton of D. Robertson. During her studies, she participated in several international music festivals in France, Great Britain and Belgium. Her main focus is chamber music and interpretation of contemporary music.

Pavla Jahodová Vondráčková

harpist and teacher at the Říčany Music School, founder of the Venus Trio ensemble and the Harfičky children’s harp ensemble, for which she arranges a specific repertoire mainly from the field of popular music, also performing as a soloist.

Pavla’s lessons are open to students of all levels, with individual attention to both solo and ensemble playing. She will focus not only on classical technique and interpretation but also on expanding students’ expressive possibilities through a diverse and inspiring repertoire.

A graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Pavla Jahodová Vondráčková later enriched her education through music courses with British harpist Suzanne Drake. From the beginning of her career, she has focused mainly on chamber and solo performance. She founded the ensemble Venus Trio (violin, harp, cello), with which she has performed not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad. At the 3rd Harp Congress in Vienna, she premiered the Sonata for Harp by Juraj Filas, for which she received an award for outstanding interpretation. Thanks to her initiative, the sonata was later published in the USA as well.

She also founded the ensemble Šarbilach, dedicated to Jewish folk music. The ensemble continues to exist today in a renewed form – performing alongside Pavla are young female musicians, including her daughter, a flutist.

Pavla Vondráčková has collaborated, and continues to collaborate, with many prominent musicians across various disciplines (K. Kluge, J. Hošek, J. Svěcený, among others). Her recordings have been broadcast not only by Czech Radio and Television but also by BBC Nottingham.

She performs as a soloist (recitals) and with orchestras (Teplice Philharmonic, Virtuosi Pragenses, among others) throughout Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, and more), as well as in the USA and Taiwan.

Pavla is also a dedicated music educator. Since 1985, she has taught music education in various school settings (elementary and grammar schools), as well as harp in her private studio. Since September 2018, she has been teaching harp at the Říčany Music School. Her students regularly succeed in national and international competitions. In addition to teaching numerous private students, she has taught at international courses such as Ameropa, collaborated as a pedagogue in the preparation of symphony premieres by J. Vogel, works with the children’s theater Feigele, and founded the harp ensemble “Harfičky”, for which she arranges a unique repertoire, including adaptations of popular music.

Pavla Jahodová Vondráčková plays an American-made “Venus” harp.

Vendulka Vaňková

harpist of the National Theatre in Prague, teacher at the Jan Hanuš Elementary Art School and artistic advisor of the International Harp Competition of Professor Karel Patras.

Vendulka Vaňková studied at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Professor Libuše Váchalová and continued her education at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Professor Karel Patras.

As a harpist of the State Opera in Prague (now part of the National Theatre) she has performed in numerous opera and ballet productions and toured extensively throughout Europe as well as in Japan. She is currently a member of the harp section of the National Theatre Orchestra in Prague.

Alongside her orchestral work she appears as a solo and chamber musician and has long been active in projects featuring the harp at ceremonial occasions, particularly wedding ceremonies at Loučeň Castle and the castles of Houska and Kokořín.

Vendulka Vaňková is also deeply committed to teaching. She teaches harp at the Jan Hanuš Elementary Art School in Prague 6 and has previously taught at the Elementary Art School in Prague 5 – Zbraslav. Her students regularly take part in competitions and concerts, including major harp concerts organised in cooperation with the Jan Hanuš School, the Zbraslav Music School and the Prague Conservatory.

She serves as chair of the harp section of the Central Artistic Council for Elementary Art Schools and as artistic advisor of the International Harp Competition of Professor Karel Patras, held at the Jan Hanuš School in Prague. In this role she helps to prepare harp festivals and competitions and contributes to the creation of repertoire lists and methodological support for harp teachers.

Matti Saarinen

Finnish educator and performer of classical and jazz music, graduate of the Sibelius Academy, author of two solo albums and the book “12 Studies for Guitar.”

Matti Saarinen (*1978) studied classical guitar at the Sibelius Academy (with Jukka Savijoki and Timo Korhonen), Musikhögskolan i Malmö (with Göran Söllscher and Gunnar Spjuth), and Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (with Alvaro Pierri).

He further refined his skills through masterclasses with Erik Stenstadvold, Oscar Chiglia, David Russell, Nigel North, Hubert Käppel, and Wolfgang Muthspiel. He earned his Master’s degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2004.

As a soloist and ensemble musician, he has performed and recorded across all Nordic countries, as well as in the USA, Russia, Austria, Spain, and Germany. From 2006 to 2016, he lived and worked in Iceland. He is currently based in Helsinki, working as an educator and an active musician in the classical and jazz music scenes.

He has released two solo albums and a book of his own compositions, Matti Saarinen – 12 Studies for Guitar”.

“My strategy as a musician is to stay curious and keep an open mind. I believe that education in classical music provides a solid basis for expeditions to composition, orchestration, and improvisation.”

Pavlína Senić

opera singer with Serbian roots, a graduate of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, former soloist at the Prague State Opera and member of the Opera Divas trio, teacher and head of department at the International Conservatory in Prague and the Ilja Hurník Music School.

Opera singer, Pavlína Senić, has deep Serbian roots with a unique and unmistakable voice.

After graduating from the College of Music Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and after she finished her internship at the London Academy Guildhall School of Music, she accepted a position as a member of the Triad Siraels. This group consists of vocals, viola, piano and often perform both domestically and abroad. Their repertoire includes both contemporary and classical composers.

Mrs. Senic is often cast in operettas due her versatility  as an artist, dancer, dramatic performer  or her skills reciting spoken word. North Bohemian Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Countess Marica by E. Kalman), Prague State Opera (Vivat operetta: Countess Marica by E. Kalman, Rosalinda from Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss, Countess Elizabeth from the operetta The Land of Smiles by F. Lehár) and opera roles (First Lady of the opera The Magic Flute W.A.Mozart, Flora from La Traviata by G. Verdi). Last year, Mrs. Senic rehearsed the lead role of Gretel in the opera The Bartered Bride by Smetana, with the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ústí nad Labem.

It is very important to mention her significant concert activities as well, which include both song compositions and also spiritual music performances. During her career, Mrs. Senic has cooperated with many different chamber orchestras, most notably  with  Czech National Orchestras, The Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in Zlin, where she participated alongside her solo performances, in an opera project for children “Yeah Opera, Opera”. Her active involving with chamber music is still ongoing. Since 2008, she has performed at the International Music Festival Znojmo Music. This year, she has been asked to help prepare a program alongside leading Czech quartet “Epoque Quartet.”

In 2013 she released the Christmas album “Christmas House with Pavlina Senica”  and during the same year she also held a successful Christmas tour with the ensemble Musica Festiva.

She is dedicated to charity and outreach work. She regularly participates at special charity projects throughout the year.

Miloslava Vítková

Choir conductor and teacher of solo singing and music education at the Gymnasium and Music School of the City of Prague, director of the women’s choir Bubureza.

Miloslava Vítková is a choir conductor, music educator and soprano. She comes from a musical family – her father Josef Fousek was for many years a percussionist, and her uncles Václav Slivanský and Jiří Fousek played in the Prague State Opera and in the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK.

She studied at the Aesthetic-Education / Evropská Gymnasium in Prague and went on to read Music Education and Choral Conducting at the Faculty of Education of Charles University. She studied singing at the Music School of the City of Prague with Magdalena Bělohlávková and later with Simona Procházková at the Plzeň Conservatory. During her studies she won a number of prizes in solo and chamber singing, including first prize at the Imrich Godin International Vocal Competition and first prize at the Olomouc Singing Competition.

In 2003 she founded the mixed Scout choir Cantuta, which she conducted until 2015. From 2006 to 2010 she worked as a conductor of the preparatory department of the Kühn Children’s Choir. In 2008 she founded the women’s chamber choir Bubureza, with which she has achieved major success at national and international competitions and festivals such as FSU Jihlava, Praga cantat, Bratislava Cantat and Slovakia Cantat. In 2012 she founded the Children’s Cathedral Choir at St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, which she led for many years and with which she regularly took part in the cathedral’s liturgical music.

She has taught choral singing at the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University and music at the Nad Štolou Gymnasium in Prague. Since 2008 she has been teaching music theory at the Gymnasium and Music School of the City of Prague. She has worked with NIPOS–ARTAMA as a specialist in children’s choral singing, organising regional and national festivals and serving as a regular lecturer at choral conducting seminars, as well as a jury member at choral competitions.

Vítková focuses in particular on contemporary choral repertoire, often premiered within the Days of Contemporary Music festival. She is also the author of numerous articles and reviews on choral music published in Cantus and other specialised magazines.

Shuwei Cooper Yuan

Chinese jazz guitarist, graduate of Berklee College of Music, faculty member at Xinjiang Arts University and an active performer on the international jazz scene.

Shuwei Cooper Yuan first started playing the guitar very early at the age of 9 and quickly found it’s style through transcribing the arrangements of guitar legends like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani.

At the age of 17 the young talent started studying jazz guitar at the Berklee Music College with John Finn and Wayne Krantz, achieving his bachelor degree at the age of 21. After that he moved to New York and played his first sessions with legends like Steve Lukather, Stanley Clarke and Tal Wilkenfeld.

Coming back to his homecountry, he later started working in Peking as a studio guitarist for 1,5 years with various pop singers, playing with free jazz guitarist David Michelle and in a metal band called „Sirene in Flames“. At the age of 24 he moved to Germany and studied at the Jazz Institute in Berlin with the american jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and in Weimar with Frank Möbus. Later on in Leipzig, he played with Walther Neumann and Christian Röver.

Since 2016 Shuwei Yuan came back to China to be the jazz guitar teacher in Xinjiang Arts University, he still always going back to Europe play with Till Brönner, Philip Maniez and many incredible jazz musicians.

Tristan Michael Willems

conductor, educator and arranger with long-standing experience in the USA and Europe, specialising in wind ensembles, jazz groups and symphony orchestras, and founder of his own music publishing company.

Tristan Willems received his formal music education at Northwestern University where he studied with members of the Chicago Symphony obtaining the first degree ever granted from that institution in Woodwinds Performance. Subsequent studies were taken at New York University and the Conductor’s Institute.

His career has touched virtually all facets of the music industry; he has performed and composed for the theatre, been a member of various orchestras in the United States (performing on Bassoon, Clarinet, Oboe and Saxophone), is the author of over five hundred compositions and arrangements, owns a music publishing house (Brazinmusikanta Publications and Willemsmusiik), has been vice-president of Jeffrey James Arts Consultants (an arts management firm), and founded 4-Tay, Incorporated (recording label).

From 1994 until 2002, Dr. Willems was Music Director and Conductor of the Britten-on-the-Bay Festival Chorus and Orchestra in New York. Also in 1994, he founded the Adolphe Saxquartette and has performed and commissioned many works in that genre the world over. The quartet was been invited to multiple World Saxophone Congresses and has performed at several of the North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences. In the United States, Dr. Willems has taught public school music and has been on staff at several colleges and universities serving as professor of conducting, music business, and applied woodwinds. As a conductor, he has worked with and recorded with the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the State Philharmonic – Kosice, the AÞena Kammersveit, the Czech National Orchestra and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. Recently, he has taught at the Reykjanesbær School of Music in Iceland and was Professor of Woodwinds and Chamber music at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem. At present, he resides and works in Oppland, Norway and in Prague, Czech Republic.

This year Tristan will again lead and conduct orchestra at the I-AME summer music academy.

Tristan has authored several articles and books; his latest project is preparing critical editions of the collected works of the Czech-American composer Jaromír Weinberger as well as writing his biography.

Viktori Rampal Dzurenko

Painter, film director and teacher of film language, head of the creative visual arts programme at I-AME.

She was born in a small town in Slovakia, but her life took her through Prague and the study of film directing at FAMU all the way to India.

She is a painter, film director, teacher of painting, film directing and film language. She is filming feature films and documentaries and video clips, and is currently preparing her feature-length debut in international co-production (more about her work on www.viktori.cz). In the film profession, she mostly works with her Indian husband, editor and producer Ranjan Rampal.

Viktori loves art, colour, filmmaking, travel and her life is constantly on the move. Teaching is an interactive process in which mutual enrichment and transfer of life experiences take place.