ROMANOVSKÁ HAVLÁKOVÁ JAKEŠ & LÁTALOVÁ / CZE

A musical movement improvisation on the theme of sound movement, moving sound, freedom, inspiration, solitude, support, self-sufficiency, now, green, which will be performed at the festival in the context of natural scenery and a Romanesque bell tower, promises a captivating experience.

Since her studies at the Prague Conservatory, Anna Romanovská Fliegrová has continuously devoted herself to the interpretation of contemporary music. She is a permanent member of the Berg Chamber Orchestra (since 2000) and has been collaborating with Petr Kotík on the Ostrava New Orchestra and New Opera Days Ostrava projects for five years.

Thanks to the production of Schwarz auf Weiss by the German author Heiner Goebbels, which was performed by Orchester Berg at Struny Podzimu (Strings of Autumn) in 2009, Anna began learning to play the Japanese koto. A year later, a composition called Lacrimosa for baroque violin, koto, tam-tam and strings by the young Czech composer Slavomír Hořínka was written for her, and in 2017 a composition called Tredecimchordon 4 koto DdC by Vlastislav Matoušek.

Currently, Anna uses the koto mainly in free improvisations with Trio Romanovská Tichý Hrubý. This year, the trio is releasing its fifth CD with Slovak Hevhetia and regularly performs with guests from a wide musical spectrum – soprano Hana Blažíková, vocalist Annabelle Plum, underground saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec, German drummer Klaus Kugel, Irish violinist and viola d’amore player Garth Knox and others . Anna teaches violin and music theory at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague and works as a lecturer with the Ponec children’s studio.

Jana Havláková was born in Prague into a family of musicians, where it was hoped that the children would go on to study lucrative fields promising a secure future. But Jana was always drawn elsewhere, albeit uncertainly.

Through chance and by the power of intuition, Jana studied Mongolian studies, including completing several internships in the Mongolian steppe, where she felt what is essential in life more intensely than in the heart of Europe. And so she decided to develop her natural inclination to improvise on the violin in Prague’s educational institutions. Currently, she is grateful for the inspiration from Jiří Slavík, with whom she has classes at the jazz department at HAMU, and for the community of friends with the same passion for music who surround her. Jana enjoys penetrating the depths of playing an instrument, interpreting classical music (she plays in a string quartet), and most of all into the depths of the possibilities of her own invention and into the art of transforming her ideas into real compositions and sounds – into a musical message that would speak to people uncompromisingly. You can hear her playing with Uthand, occasionally elsewhere, at present with a lower frequency as she has a little daughter, Františka.

Milan K. Jakeš was born in Hodonín in South Moravia, and currently works in Prague, where he studies the city’s character.

He graduated from the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and Higher Vocational School (majoring in violin) under the direction of Lukáš Kuta and Mário Illéš. He is now in his third year studying Jazz Interpretation at HAMU (under the guidance of David Dorůžka and Vojěch Procházka). His passion is also conducting research in the diverse waters of all kinds of folklore traditions.

He is a member of Free Balkan Quintet, Futur Swing, Kvintesence Quartet, Prague Quiet Music Collective, Talaqpo, Qaraba Ensemble, Sevdah Ensemble, Stratocluster and MAOMAH. Under the pseudonym Mitakuye Oyeasin, he devotes himself to pure acoustic creation and electronic experimentation. He celebrates spontaneous improvisation as a way to break away from the rigid bonds and consensuses of reality. Everything is allowed, the game of creative imagination begins. All we have is our responsibility on the journey of life.

Project Unexpected Green

This is a project of the violin trio Romanovská Havláková Jakeš and dancer, lecturer and performer Jana Látalová.

The idea to connect the improvisational violin trio and the dancer and performer Jana Látalová came from the violinist Anna Romanovská. For this year’s performance at the Dobršská brána festival, she invited three artists whose artistic expression is an important component of improvisation. The freedom contained in it applies to dance or movement, as in the case of Jana Látalová (she regularly collaborates with Anna in the Children’s Studio of the Ponec Theatre), as well as music.

Double bassist Klára Pudláková connected Anna with violinists Jana Havláková and Milan Jakeš for the first time in her group MAOMAH. What brings these three musicians together was perhaps best described by M. Jakeš: “We celebrate spontaneous improvisation as an opportunity to break away from the firm bonds and consensuses of reality. Everything is allowed, the game of creative imagination begins. The only thing we have is our responsibility on the journey of life.”

Anna Romanovská (violin)

Jana Havláková (violin)

Milan Jakeš (violin)

Jana Látalová (dance, performance)