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2013

The most important events and projects in 2013 – some assisted by the Society – included the world premiere of Kapralova's miniatures for flute and piano, Tales of a Small Flute, written by the composer for her fiancé Jiri Mucha in 1940 and performed by Lucie Brotbek at the Flute Festival 2013 Freiburg, Germany; a recording by Helene Lindquist and Philipp Vogler of Kapralova's art song Smutny vecer which has been made available on the artists' website (under the title "Studeny" vecer); a two-hour radio documentary on Kapralova by Martinu scholar Harry Halbreich for the Radio Télévision Belge Francophone; and the Greek premiere of Kapralova's Military Sinfonietta, performed by the Thessaloniki State Symphony under the baton of Nadia Wasiutek.

In 2013, Kapralova's music continued to be performed and broadcast worldwide, with the composer's art songs, string quartet, cello ritornel, and the sinfonietta being programmed most frequently. The composer's music was also presented at two music festivals and one international music competition last year. The Flute Festival 2013 Freiburg (Germany) programmed Kapralova's Tales of a Small Flute that was given its first performance by Lucie Brotbek (flute) and Nadia Belneeva (piano). Moravian Autumn Festival of Brno (Czech Republic) programmed the composer's Military Sinfonietta which was performed by the Brno Philharmonic under the baton of Aleksandar Markovic. The 12th International Czech and Slovak Voice Competition (with its semifinals at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the finals in Montreal) heard a range of Kapralova art songs from several semifinalists and finalists. Olga Rusin from Krakow, Poland, won the Kapralova Society Award for the best interpretation of a Kapralova song for her fine rendition of Waving Farewell, op. 14. Kapralova's music was also featured in 8 radio broadcasts last year, and the countries included Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United States. Among participating radio networks were three national broadcasters – Czech Radio, Radio Vara, and Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) which produced the very first French language radio documentary on Kapralova.

Kapralova's music was reviewed for a variety of music journals, magazines and e-zines last year. Four reviewers focused on the Czech Radio recording of Kapralova's string quartet, released in October 2012 with the assistance of the Society. The reviews appeared in Harmonie (this Czech musical monthly gave the recording its highest score, "Tip Harmonie") and Czech Music Quarterly (Veroslav Nemec), Opus Musicum (Alice Rajnohova), Martinu Revue (Greg Terian), and criticaclassica.com (Marco del Vaglio). Three reviewers reported on the performance of Kapralova's Military Sinfonietta at the Moravian Autumn Festival. The performance by the Brno Philharmonic under the baton of Alexandar Markevic was warmly received by both the critics and the audience, as was evident from the reviews published in Musicologica (Milos Zapletal), OperaPlus (Jan Podracky), and mestohudby.cz (Boris Klepal). San Francisco Classical Voice printed a review by Jason Serinus of a performance of Kapralova's Elegy for Violin and Piano, and Kapralova Society Journal published a book review by Michelle Latour of The Kapralova Companion, the very first English monograph on the composer. In addition to this review, Kapralova Society Journal printed the article by Cristina Castaldi "An Analysis of Kapralova's Song Cycle Navzdy, op. 12."

Kapralova was the subject of two public lectures last year: the first, by Dr. Martin Flasar of the Masaryk University, was part of "Women in Music," a two-day public seminar held in May at the Jiri Mahen Library in Brno; the second, by Dr. Timothy Cheek of the University of Michigan, was given by the author in June at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kapralova's music was also the subject of doctoral dissertation "Klavirni dilo Vitezslavy Kapralove" (Piano Oeuvre of Vitezslava Kapralova), written by Alice Rajnohova as part of meeting her DMA degree requirements at the Janacek Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. Another important contribution to the Kapralova bibliography last year was Derek Sayer's new book on Czech cultural history, Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century: A Surrealist History. The book included an 11–page section dedicated solely to Kapralova, drawing on research published in our Kapralova Society Journal.


Women in Music

In 2013, the Society put out the eleventh volume of its online journal of women in music, Kapralova Society Journal, publishing research on Dame Ethel Smyth (Eugene Gates), Dame Vera Lynn (Erin Hackel), and Kapralova (Cristina Castaldi).

The Society's databases of women composers and conductors and other online resources on women in music continue to expand and attract visitors to our website, frequently bookmarked by online discussion groups and blogs, and listed among recommended resources on websites of an increasing number of college and public libraries worldwide.


Acknowledgement:

We would like to thank the following artists who performed Kapralova's music in Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, United Kingdom, and the United States in 2013 (in alphabetical order): Veronika Bekarkova, Nadia Belneeva, Olivia Betzen, Ashley Biehl, Brno Philharmonic, Lucie Brotbek, Sara Davis Buechner, Timothy Cheek, Antonina Chekhovskaya, Michele Cusson, Anthony Elliott, Anne Gross, Timothy Hester, Marie Horackova, Christine Jay, Ema Katrovas, Gunta Laukmane, Julien LeBlanc, Isabelle Leclerc, Hélène Lindqvist, Sarah Meredith Livingston, Melissa Loehnig, Adaiha Macadam-Somer, Alexandar Markovic, Natalya Matyusheva, Sara Pellington, Lukas Polak, Olga Rusin, Leann Schuering, Skampa Quartet, Sojka Quartet, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Kylie Toomer, Dale Tsang-Hall, Ingrid Verhulsdonk, Philipp Vogler, Nadia Wasiutek, and Rebecca Whittington.

We also wish to thank our partners, friends, and all the others who promoted Kapralova and/or assisted our efforts in 2013: 4 MBS Classic FM, Diana Ambache, Vojtech Babka, Malcolm Baird, Jindra Bartova, Maria Bauer, Michael Beckerman, Jiri Bezdek, Natalia Borodin, Cristina Castaldi, CFSI 107.9 FM, criticaclassica.com, Liane Curtis, Czech Music Quarterly, Czech Radio 3 (Vltava), Thea Derks, Nicholas Derny, Harold Duckett, Eastern Oregon University, Judith Fiehler, Martin Flasar, Flute Festival Freiburg, Foothill Presbyterian Church, Eugene Gates, Barry Gorman, Erin Hackel, Harry Halbreich, Harmonie, Peter Herbert, Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Marketa Janackova, Janackova konzervator a Gymnasium v Ostrave, Olga Jezkova, Boris Klepal, Knihovna Jiriho Mahena v Brne, Kvast Association, Michelle Latour, Martin Ledvinka, Bohuslav Martinu Institute, Martinu Revue, mestohudby.cz, Eve Meyer, Jiri Mihule, Moravian Autumn Festival, musicologica.cz, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library at Cedar Rapids, Veroslav Nemec, Alain Nonat, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Old First Church of San Francisco, OperaPlus, Opus Musicum, Lydia Perovic, Jan Podracky, Alice Rajnohova, RTBF Musiq3, San Francisco Classical Voice, Derek Sayer, Sdruzeni Lochotinsky pavilon, Jason Victor Serinus, Zoja Seyckova, Jan-Olof Sjostrom, Kass Sunderji, Greg Terian, Theatre Lyrichoregra 20 Montréal, University of Hartford, University of Houston, University of Michigan, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marco del Vaglio, Vara Radio 4, Western Michigan University, Whitman College, WWVH 91.3 FM, and Milos Zapletal.


Prepared by Karla Hartl, Chair, The Kapralova Society. Toronto, January 2014.