Since its foundation in 1997, the Prague ensemble Collegium Marianum has been dedicated to performing music from the 17th and 18th centuries, focusing on Czech and Central European composers. As one of the few professional ensembles in the Czech Republic with such a profile, it not only has concert works in its repertoire, but also regularly engages in stage projects.
The ensemble operates under the artistic direction of flutist Jana Semerádová, who also guest performs as a soloist with major European orchestras. Jana Semerádová’s research activities, as well as her study of baroque gestures, declamation and dance, have enabled the ensemble to expand its artistic profile from a purely musical focus to a connection with baroque dance and theater, and are also a prerequisite for the ensemble’s unusual dramaturgies with a number of modern premieres of works from music history.
The ensemble closely collaborates with prominent European conductors, soloists, directors and choreographers, such as Andrew Parrott, Hana Blažíková, Damien Guillon, Peter Kooij, Sergio Azzolini, François Fernandez, Simona Houda-Šaturová, Benjamin Lazar, Jean-Denis Monory and Gudrun Skamletz.
Also significant is the collaboration with the puppet theatre ensemble Buchty a loutky, with which Collegium Marianum presents original projects (the puppet opera Calisto or a production of Handel’s pastoral opera Acis and Galatea).
The Collegium Marianum ensemble enjoys recognition from foreign and Czech professional critics and regularly films for Czech Television, Czech Radio and foreign radio stations.
The ensemble’s performances at festivals and prestigious stages such as the Utrecht Oude Muziek Festival, Musikfestspiele Potsdam, Händel-Festspiele Halle, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Bachfest Leipzig, Festival de Sablé, Klang Vokal Dortmund, Palau Música Barcelona, Prague Spring, St. Wenceslas Music Festival and Concentus Moraviae were received with great success.
In 2008, the ensemble began a successful collaboration with the music publishing house Supraphon, which, within the “Music of Prague 18th Century” series, has already released eight of its recordings with music by well-known and lesser-known composers such as J. D. Zelenka, F. Jiránek, J. J. I. Brentner and J. A. Sehling. The ensemble also participated in the creation of the profile CD Gloria by soprano Simona Houda-Šaturová and the release of the DVD Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo.
In 2010, Collegium Marianum became the recipient of an award for merits in the quality and dissemination of Czech music awarded by the Czech section of the UNESCO International Music Council.
Since 2001, Collegium Marianum has been organizing the Baroque Evenings concert series. With its thematically focused dramaturgy and close connection with the historical spaces of ancient Prague, Baroque Evenings represent a unique project not only in the Czech but also in the international context. Collegium Marianum is a resident ensemble of the international music festival Summer Festival of Early Music and the St. Wenceslas Music Festival.
For more information go to: www.collegiummarianum.cz
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