Gala Concert. Epoque Quartet & Siempre Nuevo

In 2024, the multi-genre EPOQUE QUARTET (EQ) celebrated its 25th anniversary. During this time, it has found a firm place on the Czech and European music scene, significantly pushed the boundaries of the quartet repertoire , and established itself as a leading ensemble that is invited to collaborate with many great musicians from various branches of the music industry. Among its most notable projects are a tour with Dan Bárta and Ilustratosphere, cooperation with the bands Monkey Business, Tatabojs, and Clarinet Factory, and concerts and recordings with Michal Pavlíček, Gregory Porter, Lenka Dusilová, Robert Balzar, Dasha, Ondřej Brzobohatý, Tomáš Klus, Jiří Korn, Matěj Ruppert, and in the more classical field with Dagmar Pecková, Daniel Hope, Radek Baborák, Ivan Klánský, Adam Plachetka and others. In 2020, the compilation album “20 Years of the Epoque Quartet” was named Recording of the Year in the Crossover Project at the prestigious Classic Prague Awards. On the same evening, the quartet also received the “Classic of the Year” award for its anniversary concert at Prague’s Lucerna Palace. One of the most recent achievements is the award-winning CD “Epoque Quartet plays Jan Kučera”, which summarizes the composer’s long-term collaboration with the ensemble and was nominated for the 2018 Anděl Award. In addition, the CD “Flow” with Canadian pianist and composer David Braid, with whom EQ toured China, was launched in New York. The CD “Flow” was shortlisted for the prestigious Canadian Juno Award. In 2018, the ensemble received its first invitation to participate in the Prague Spring Festival. EQ is also known to a wide audience for its performance in the popular TV show Stardance. Another recent project is the CD “Komplot”, recorded and released in 2021 during the coronavirus crisis with the leading Czech clarinetist Irvin Venyš. This year’s central theme is the “Ellaboration” project, in which EQ and singer Dasha reinterpret famous songs by the equally well-known jazz icon Ella Fitzgerald. The Epoque Quartet has given concerts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Bulgaria, Israel, the USA, Canada, Brazil, China and Japan. It also shared its rich experience with quartet playing at workshops in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Brazil, and Israel.

The members of the Epoque Quartet are David Pokorný (violin), Vladimír Klánský (violin), Alexey Aslamas (viola), and Vít Petrášek (cello).

The SIEMPRE NUEVO Guitar Duo was founded in October 2007 by two outstanding Czech guitarists, Matěj Freml (b. 1982) and Patrick Vacík (b. 1984), whilst they were studying together at the Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZT in Weimar, Germany. Since then, the duo has been regularly invited to perform at a wide range of concerts and festivals both in the Czech Republic and internationally. They have appeared in China, Peru, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Germany, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many other European countries.