The civil association YOUNG PRAGUE - THE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL has made it its aim to help promising young artists who are starting their career in classical music ...

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The civil association YOUNG PRAGUE - THE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL has made it its aim to help promising young artists who are starting their career in classical music - such as instrumentalists, singers, chamber groups, conductors as well as composers. By organizing concerts at the international level we want to make the beginning of their artistic career easier for them and enable them to make friends with young musicians from all over the world.

That is why the idea of founding an international music festival was born. In 1990 the initiators, the representatives of The International Music Society in Munich (IMGM - Internationale Musikgesellschaft Munchen) decided to situate the festival in Czechoslovakia and gave it the name Young Prague. In 1992, from late August to early September the first festival took place with participation of artists from 8 nationalities, ranging from Peru to Japan. In the same year a Japanese committee of the Young Prague Festival was founded in Tokyo and its task is to choose the most interesting young musicians from Asia.

Thanks to the constant sponsorshiop of the companies Panasonic, Kirin Beer, Toyota, Shiseido, Yamasha, System Yamato and some others from the Czech Republic and Japan, whose support we really appreciate, it has already been possible to hold the festival ten times. Over 320 young musicians from most European countries, the USA, Peru, India, Mexico, China, Korea and Japan performed in 90 concerts. Besides them, many orchestras and choirs took part in the festival (The Tokyo choir of the Young Prague Festival from Kunitachi Tokyo university participates every year). Together more than 1160 musicians introduced themselves to the audience. In 2000 the festival took place within the framework of the cultural project "Prague - the European City of Culture 2000" and in 2001 the Foundation of Dagmar and Vaclav Havel VIZE 97 took over patronage of the festival.

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I am very pleased to have this opportunity, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, to accept patronage of the Young Prague festival...

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I am very pleased to have this opportunity, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, to accept patronage of the Young Prague festival. This year, the festival celebrates its 27th birthday. In human terms, then, it is still young, but for a music festival dedicated to young performers of classical music, that 27 is a number worthy of respect. Many of the musicians that will take the stage this year were not even born when the first Young Prague festival was held..

Young Prague has become an integral part of Prague's incredibly rich music scene. And - this year once again - some of the festival's concerts will take place in the historic halls of the Wallenstein Palace (Valdštejnský palác), the building of the Senate. In addition to countries, like Japan and Poland, which regularly send performers, this year's festival will welcome young musicians from all countries of the Visegrád Group - to celebrate 100 years of modern Czech statehood. Thus, this year once again, the Young Prague festival fulfills its mission: to offer a comparison and a platform for young musicians on the cusp of their professional careers.

To all the performers and audiences, may you have excellent musical experiences. And to the organizers, may the festival succeed this year as it has in the past..

Jaroslav Kubera
Vice-Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

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The Young Prague International Music Festival, where young talented musicians from all over the world gather in the “City of Music”, Prague, has reached its 27th year now. I am very pleased with this event, which allows youthful and energetic musicians to display their talent to the world. ...

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The Young Prague International Music Festival, where young talented musicians from all over the world gather in the “City of Music”, Prague, has reached its 27th year now. I am very pleased with this event, which allows youthful and energetic musicians to display their talent to the world.v

This festival has a very important role in the education of young musicians, not only in Japan and the Czech Republic, but also in other countries all around the world. I am very glad that I am able to share this event with all of you who decided to visit the festival, because it helps young musicians to spread their wings, and it reinforces cooperation and understanding of nations through the power of music.

In 2014, as part of the “V4 + Japan” cooperation, the first joint concert of musicians from Japan, Poland and the Czech Republic was held. And this year again, similar joint concert is organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Poland in Prague. I would like to hereby thank the Embassy of Poland for their help.

Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to the members of the Festival Committee of the Young Prague International Music Festival. Furthermore, I wish to thank everyone who participated in the preparations, all the sponsors and partners, and also the visitors of the festival for their support. I sincerely hope that everyone will enjoy beautiful moments while listening to the classical music.

Kaoru Shimazaki
Ambassador of Japan to the Czech Republic

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I am pleased to join you in welcoming the 27th annual Mladá Praha International Music Festival. Each year, Prague's palaces, churches, monasteries - and even the Dvořák Hall - open their doors ...

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I am pleased to join you in welcoming the 27th annual Mladá Praha International Music Festival. Each year, Prague's palaces, churches, monasteries - and even the Dvořák Hall - open their doors to provide space for gifted young musicians from all over the world to perform and allow them to gain this valuable opportunity for their future careers. This year, the Czech executive committee invited the Amabile Quartet and violoncello player Nathan Son Matsubara, for example

I have no doubt that these young musicians will take the Czech scene by storm and thrill Czech audiences with amazing performances. This year, I will look forward to meeting you at the Mladá Praha closing concert.

I would like to express gratitude to all the corporations, organizations, and government agencies in both countries that support the Mladá Praha International Music Festival. It is thanks to them that the Festival has been going strong for 27 years now. I am confident that, with your support, the Festival will bring joy to concert-goers in the years to come, and continue contributing to cultural exchange between Japan and the Czech Republic.

Shuku Iwasaki
President of the Japanese Committee – pianist

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Dear listeners,

welcome to the 27th annual Young Prague international music festival. This year carries special significance for our republic, since it marks 100 years since its foundation ...

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Dear listeners,

welcome to the 27th annual Young Prague international music festival. This year carries special significance for our republic, since it marks 100 years since its foundation. The year 1918 was a year of huge changes for all of Europe: borders were redrawn and new States came into being. Although the whole world entered dark periods later, we can say that the mutual cooperation that began in that year laid the foundations for the current situation, in both political and cultural terms.

We are proud that our festival is a direct and living testament to the fact that artistic collaboration has a place in the modern world. The artistic values the performers create speak to the listeners, and enrich them. Music has the ability to interconnect the whole world without words, and we are pleased to be direct participants.

We are honored that, at our concerts, you will hear young musicians from truly all over the world - from countries close to us geographically, as well as from countries in far-away continents. Our performs enable us to get to know the culture and artistic feeling of their respective countries, and we have the opportunity and privilege to be their enthusiastic admirers.

Let us enjoy the beautiful musical experiences they have prepared for us!

Tomáš Čistecký
Chairman of the Czech Committee

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Esteemed and Dear Young Friends,

I am truly delighted every year to attend concerts organized by the International Music Festival Mladá Praha. As young artists, your performances are a pageant of commitment, talent, diligence and joy ...

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Esteemed and Dear Young Friends,

I am truly delighted every year to attend concerts organized by the International Music Festival Mladá Praha. As young artists, your performances are a pageant of commitment, talent, diligence and joy. I am aware that these performances are preceded by dozens and dozens of hours of hard work, preparation and sacrifice. Believe me, however, that this is a good "investment." It is a contribution to your own artistic and personal development, while giving powerful moments to those who have not been gifted with the talent you have received. May your efforts to be rewarded with applause and recognition, and the time spent in diligent practicing strengthen the talents that you, as it says in the Bible, did not bury, but multiplied many times over.

For this, I wish you much strength and look forward to seeing you at the concert.

Yours truly,

JUDr. Dominika Kolowrat-Krakovská
The Endowment Fund Kolowratek of Maximilian, Francesca and Dominika Kolowrat-Krakowsky

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