The concert received the status of official cultural event ofthe Czech Presidency of the EU Council by the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra. The concert was arranged by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Copenhagen and the European Commission Representation in Copenhagen in cooperation with the Royal Library. The Director of the Royal Library, Mr. Erland Kolding Nielsen, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Denmark, Mr. Jan Høst Schmidt, and the Czech Ambassador to Denmark, Mr. Zdeněk Lyčka, gave welcome speeches. Mr. Nielsen called the cultural events, that have been taking place at the Royal Library recently, for “the Prague Spring at the Royal Library”.

The Czech Ambassador to Denmark, Mr. Zdeněk Lyčka, reminded the two exhibitions both opened on 30 April 2009. The Photo exhibition 68/89 that will last until the end of June 2009, and the exhibition of the Devil´s Bible, which was borrowed fromthe National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague and lasted until the 18 May 2009.

The Stamic Quartet has since its establishment in 1985 achieved a high reputation on the Czech as well as the international music scenes in more than 50 countries worldwide. The quartet has recorded almost 70 CD´s and has become one of the leading music ensembles in the Czech Republic. Its international career successfully began at the EBU/OIRT international competition in Salzburg in 1986.

The Stamic Quartet´s repertoire is based on the string quartets of Czech as well as international composers, but recording activities have always been an important part of the quartet´s schedule. Many of their recordings have received prestigious international awards: twice the Grand Prix du Disque de l´Académie Charles Cros, and the Diapason d´Or for the recordings of Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů for Bayer Records, as well as top place in the opinion polls of the Gramophone magazine in London for the recordings of the string quartets by Leoš Janáček.

The Stamic Quartet, consisting of Jindřich Pazdera (violin), Josef Kekula (violin), Jan Pěruška (viola) and Petr Hejný (cello), will perform music by the Czech composers Antonín Dvořák, Bohuslav Martinů and Bedřich Smetana and the Danish composer Carl Nielsen. The concert, which was attended by diplomats, Czech students and other expatriots and many significant Danish cultural personalities, was rounded off by the reception.