Prague Festival Promises Classical and Jazz

Prague Proms, a monthlong tribute to jazz and classical music – with a splash of Hollywood — officially kicks off the summer festival season on June 21.

 

Taking its name from BBC Proms, London’s renowned international music festival, Prague Proms pulls together a string of foreign and domestic talent for a series of evening concerts that have been charming tourists and locals over the past seven years.

 

Otakar Svoboda, the festival spokesman, called the 2011 program “good summer crossover music,” predicting that there will be more than a few crowd favorites in the mix. While the lineup is full of homegrown names — including Vltava, “a racy, nontraditional” five-man band, as well as Libor Pesek, the acclaimed Czech composer and conductor who opens the festival — there is also plenty of global glitz and glam.

 

The always popular Hollywood Night will feature melodies from several Oscar-winning films. Terence Blanchard, the jazz trumpeter and multi-Grammy Award winner, will also perform, as will Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer who has scored hundreds of television shows and movies over his lengthy career.

 

The majority of this year’s concerts will take place at the historic Municipal House (Namesti Republiky 5), home of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, which features prominently in the festival. Prague Proms runs through July 23.

 

Source: NYtimes.com





Prague Proms 2011
  • Ennio Morricone
  • Bobby Shew
  • Terence Blanchard
  • United Choirs of Proms
  • Gospel Showcase