Upcoming Events

The Czech quartet play three key works from their native repertoire. Josef Suk (1874-1935) Meditation on an old Bohemian Chorale (St Wenceslas) Op. 35a Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) String Quartet No. 1 'Kreutzer Sonata' Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) String Quartet No. 13 in G Op. 106 Helena Jiříkovská, violin Adéla Štajnochrová, violin Martin Stupka, viola Lukáš Polák, Violoncello

Wigmore Hall will screen the film Zuzana: Music is Life, about the legendary harpsichordist and humanitarian figure Zuzana Růžičková, who performed for many seasons at the Hall between the 1960s and 1990s. Music is Life is the dark and triumphant story told by Růžičková, who died in 2017 aged 90, about how she became the world-famous harpsichordist and interpreter of Bach under the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, after surviving three concentration camps during her teenage years. Despite constant surveillance, marginal…

Intelligent speakers have been one of the rapidly evolving areas in AI. We will describe the Alquist social chatbot designed by the Czech Technical University team of students under the leadership of Jan Šedivý. Jan will briefly review the competition and its primary motivations. But his main focus will be on the Alquist team’s expertise, which embraces several disciplines, such as Conversational AI, Dialogue Management, Linguistics, Audio design, Creative writing, and many more. Jan will also explain the development of…

Dvořák's best-loved opera, Rusalka is inspired by myths and folk-tales about a water-nymph that chooses to become human to win her Prince. The opera displays Dvořák’s exceptional gift for melody and orchestration and features the beautiful aria ‘Song to the Moon’. This new production is directed by Tatjana Gürbaca (Opernwelt Director of the Year 2013) and conducted by Antony Hermus. Both are making their ENO debuts. Leading the cast is Corinne Winters in the title role. She returns to ENO…

The British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) annual conference will provide a platform to present and discuss research on all subjects covered by the association : Politics; History; Sociology and Geography; Film and Media, Languages and Linguistics; Literatures and Cultures; and Economics. The conference especially welcomes participation by postgraduate research students and early career scholars. It will be hosted at Robinson College, University of Cambridge This year we also want to use BASEES 2020 to discuss and…

This is an opportunity for anyone interested in the British Czech and Slovak Association (members, supporters and friends) to meet, eat, drink, chat (maybe practise your Czech or Slovak) and get to know each other in a relaxed and informal setting. Anybody with Czech or Slovak connections or interests is welcome Join us and have a fun evening meeting friendly people. Food and drinks are available from the newly opened Bohemia House. We will be in one of the rooms at the Czech…

Architect Peter Jamieson, Chairman, and the founders Barbara Peacock and Ian Kennaway will talk about the growth of The Friends' involvement and influence in helping to secure and conserve the rich heritage of the Czech lands Since 2008 we have carried out a programme of education and promotion for Czech heritage by organising 50 events in London, including presentations, talks, visits, wine tastings and exhibitions. Our events are presented by experts on topics ranging from leading Czech personalities to modern…