The event is presented by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) - Washington, DC, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic.

Location: Embassy of the Czech Republic
3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008

RSVP: hmfabry@aol.com
Due to limited seating, you must make your reservations by March 13!

Admission is free as recognition for your past and future support.

Škampa Quartet
Helena Jiříkovská – violin
Daniela Součková – violin
Radim Sedmidubský – viola
Petr Šporcl – cello

PROGRAM

Bohuslav Martinů:
String Quartet No. 7, “Concerto da camera”

Antonín Dvořák:
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, “American”

Bedřich Smetana:
String Quartet No.1 in E Minor, “From My Life”

ABOUT THE QUARTET:
The Škampa Quartet is among the very finest of an outstanding group of current Czech string quartets that has represented the Czech Republic in major concert halls around the world for twenty years.

Through its mentors, the legendary Smetana Quartet, the group has traced its roots to the earliest quartets - such as the Bohemian Quartet - in a land described in the 18th century as the Conservatoire of Europe and that remains, to this day, the very cradle of European Chamber Music.

Prizes at international competitions, awards from the Royal Philharmonic Society and others - and appointment as the first-ever Resident Artists at Wigmore Hall - marked the solidity of the quartet's early years and provided recognition which led to invitations to perform at major festivals world-wide including Prague Spring, Schwetzingen, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein and Melbourne. These engagements included collaboration with many fine internationally recognized artists including: Melvyn Tan, Itamar Golan, Josef Suk, Michael Collins, Kathryn Stott and Janine Jansen among many others.

From the beginning, the Škampa Quartet has established a close relationship with BBC Radio 3, resulting in regular broadcasts from Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, LSO St Luke’s and the Chamber Music Proms. The quartet has been recording for Supraphon for most of its career. They are now also among the elite artists whose performances have been selected for release on the Wigmore Hall Live label.

Education has long been an important facet of the quartet's work. Members of the quartet teach in many places around the world, but particularly at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where they were appointed Visiting Professors of Chamber Music in 2001.

For more information about the Škampa Quartet, please visit  
http://www.skampaquartet.cz/en/about_us.html