The Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava (JPO) has unveiled a new programme – the 69th season already – and launched online ticket sales. There will be a big change for the audience, not in the programme offer maintaining the high standard in terms of dramaturgy, but in the venues of the concerts. These will not take place in the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava in the coming years. The reason is the start of the reconstruction of the building and the extension of the Ostrava Concert Hall according to the design of the American architect Steven Holl. For the time being, the orchestra will perform mainly in the former Vesmír (Space) cinema. There will also be more concerts in the Gong Hall in Dolní Vítkovice and in the Church of St. Wenceslas in Opava. The programme offer of the 69th season of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava is unique in this sense. The audience can learn more about it from the new season brochure, which will also present the programme of the season in the context of the theme of “resilience”. The concept, behind which is the photographer Dita Pepe, permeates the entire brochure. Concert tickets for the 69th season can be purchased online from now and at all our points of sale from 23 May.

A word from JPO director Jan Žemla
Big changes await us in the coming years. We are starting to build a new concert hall in Ostrava. We were there at the very beginning when the conditions of the architectural competition were defined, and now we are there determining the future operation of the whole building. While designing, we have drawn on our concert experience around the world. In recent years, we have deliberately visited a number of excellent concert halls and had the opportunity to explore their technical equipment and operation, which has been absolutely crucial for us.

The temporary relocation of the Philharmonic to the former Vesmír cinema means a provisional compromise, to which we have adapted the repertoire, because the former cinema is not entirely suitable for the largest symphonic compositions. However, I am sure that the listening comfort of our audience will not suffer – the hall is undergoing acoustic adaptation and the dramaturgy of the upcoming season is therefore also adapted to the space. We will perform some of the most classic pieces  in Vesmír – from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, through typical representatives of musical romanticism to compositions by Richard Strauss and Czech composers of the 20th century.

Personally, as every year, I look forward to the opening concert, which this time will show Shostakovich’s ‘Leningrad’ Symphony. There will also be several compositions by contemporary authors. Famous performers will come again, for example cellist Johannes Moser, who returns to JPO regularly. I am pleased that Federico Colli will come again and play together with ‘our’ Lukáš Vondráček.

The brochure of the 69th JPO concert season
The 2022/23 season brochure offers a complete programme of concerts divided into subscription series, a list of other activities that JPO does as well as stories and interviews on the topic of “resilience”. At the beginning of the brochure, there is a map with practical information on the venues where concert goers will meet JPO in the coming season.

Over a dozen people worked on the brochure. Besides Dita Pepe, photographer Petr Hrubeš was also invited to joint the team. The graphic artist Štěpán Malovec gave the brochure its visual form and the texts were written by the writer Jana Poncarová. You can see some of the behind-the-scenes preparations in the photo report here. The printed brochure will be available at Janáček Point in the House of Culture from 19 May and will then be distributed to other points of sale.

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