Mgr. Rebeka Ősziová – Project Manager

She was born on 17 June 1993 in Rožňava. After graduating from Pavol Jozef Šafárik High School, she went on to study the Dramaturgy and Management of Music at the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (APA).

Devoted to music ever since her early childhood, she took piano lessons at Rožňava Music School from which she later graduated and where she also took part in a choir called Allegro.

Music inspired her next steps which lead to the APA in Bratislava, where she was taking piano courses for two years with Mgr. art. Cyril Dianovský during her Dramaturgy studies.

During her university studies, she gained experience at the Slovak Philharmonic by collaborating with PhDr. Ivan Marton, the Philharmonic’s dramaturge, and with Martina Tolstova, the Philharmonic’s press secretary, for the marketing division. She contributed to creating the programme for the Cinema Music concert and published articles about concerts in the Musical Life magazine.
 

Collaboration with art institutions:

  • Slovak Philharmonic
  • Slovak National Theatre
  • Opera Studio of the APA
  • Research Centre of the APA
  • Agency for artistic production of the APA

Other Work Experience:

  • Collaboration on the production of a ballet performance
  • Publication of articles on Slovak Philharmonic concerts in the Musical Life magazine
  • Collaboration on the creation of the programme for the Cinema Music concert in the Slovak Philharmonic
  • Performing in opera performances The Marriage of Figaro and Hair or Young Love Is a Paradise

 

Mgr.art. Ľuboš Bernáth, ArtD. – Composer / Author of the Project

www.lubosbernath.sk

He was born on 8 November 1977 in Nové Zámky. After graduating from primary school, he went on to Nové Zámky High School where he studied from 1992 to 1996. During his high school studies, he took violin and accordion classes at Nové Zámky Musical School. After graduating from high school, he went on to study Composition at the state Conservatory in Bratislava with Mgr. art. Stanislav Hochel. He graduated from the Conservatory after three years and then became a student of the APA in Bratislava, where he studied Composition with Doc. Evgenii Irshai. He finished the studies in 2006 and until 2009 he was a postgraduate student at the Music and Dance Faculty of the APA under the tutelage of Mgr. art. Ladislav Kačic and at the same time worked as a tutor. In 2009, he successfully defended his dissertation and completed his postgraduate studies.

From 1999-2010, he taught Composition, Music Theory, History of Music, Ear Training and Playing Keyboard Instruments at the Private Music School of Gabriel Rovňák. Since 2008, he has taught Composition and theoretical subjects at the state Conservatory in Bratislava. Nowadays, he also teaches Composition, Music Theory and Analysis, Counterpoint and Harmonics at the Music Theory Department of the APA in Bratislava. Apart from his teaching activities, as a composer and conductor, he attends many local and foreign music festivals, e.g. New Slovak Music, Melos Ethos, Orfeus, etc. In 2012, he stood at the birth of Ensemble Spectrum – a new youth orchestra to the APA – as its artistic guarantor. In 2013, he was awarded Ján Levoslav Bella Award for composition for Ó Mitissima Virgo Mária, a spiritual cantata. In 2013, he became the court composer for Ad libitum, a chamber ensemble from Budapest and since the same year he has held the position of a deputy chairman of the Association of Slovak Composers. Since 2016, he has held the position of a coopted member of the Board of Supervisors of the Slovak Performing and Mechanical Rights Society based in Bratislava and at the same time he acts in the Council for Science, Education and Culture of the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia.
 

Notable Composition Success and Premieres:

  • 2016: Presentation of Saint Martin oratory – St Martin’s Cathedral, Bratislava
  • 2016: Presentation of Ad fontes cantate, Żory (Poland)
  • 2015: Presentation of Book 3 of Psalms at Voce Magna festival, Žilina
  • 2013: Author of the signature tune for the Cyrilo-Methodian ecclesiastical year
  • 2013: Ján Levoslav Bella Award
  • 2009: Postgraduate project Ars nova and the present day in Slovak Radio
  • 2008: Presentation of O Jesu mea vita composition at a global festival, Moscow
  • 2007: Premiere of Akhenaten’s Dream, a composition for Flute, Accordion and Piano at a festival of contemporary music, Portugal
  • 2006: Premiere of String quartet No. 1 at Orfeus festival
  • 2005: Premiere of Gloria, a composition for Solo soprano, Solo contralto, Children’s choir, Harp, Piano and Strings in the Primate’s Palace, Bratislava
  • 2004: Premiere of The Power of Truth, a composition for Solo bass, SATB choir, Piano and String orchestra, dedicated to the city of Nitra under the baton of Doc. Elena Šarayová in Andrej Bagar Theatre, Nitra
  • 2004: Certificate of merit at Orfeus student festival for Divertimento Fifth Gospel, a composition for Oboe and String quartet
  • 2003: Third place at summer composition courses in Reichenau (Austria) in the class of prof. Ján Jirásek and prof. Gyula Fekete for The Song for Gabriela, a composition for Flute, Viola and Vibraphone
  • 2001: Premiere of Sancta Mysterium, a mass for Solo soprano, Children’s choir, Women’s choir and String orchestra, in the Clarissine Church in Bratislava under the baton of Gabriela Bernáthová
  • 2001: Presentaiton of Sonate No. 1 For Violin and Piano in New York during “The Week of Slovak Music”, Jana Illéšová violin, Ladislav Frančovič piano

 

Mgr. Lukáš Kobela, DiS. art. – Composer / Music Producer

www.lukaskobela.com

He was born on 20 May 1987 in Bratislava. Having graduated from the private Academy of Animation high school, he went on to study Mass Media Communication at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava and finally he studied Composition at the state Conservatory in Bratislava. Aged 11, he took his first steps into the world of music and started taking piano lessons which excited his interest in composition. Later, he took on guitar and singing classes. During his university studies, he started to create his first orchestral compositions. 2010 represented a turning point for him, since he participated in a project called Hockey Heroes of Slovakia, which achieved great success. Afterwards, he composed music to a student short film Perdition for Los Angeles Film School. In the same year, he was offered to compose music to the film Lóve, which became the first feature film he collaborated on. Moreover, Lóve ranks among the most successful Slovak films overall.

From 2012 to 2017, he was composing music for a successful TV series Taste of Love (9 seasons / 706 episodes) and studying Composition at the Conservatory in Bratislava with Mgr. art. Ľuboš Bernáth, ArtD. at the same time. In 2013 he won first place in the first category in the competition of Conservatory students of the Slovak republic with his first string quartet. In 2015, he collaborated with Michal Novinski, a successful composer, on orchestration and music preparation of his score to the feature film titled Wilson City. The piece was nominated for the best original score (Czech Lion Awards 2016). Similar scenario repeated in 2016 with a successful film called Teacher directed by the reputable Jan Hřebejk. The score for this film was awarded FICX Award for best original score (54. Gijón International Film Festival, Spain). The same year, Novinski and Kobela asked Ľuboš Bernáth to collaborate with them and together, they started composing a score to the Secrets of the Carpathians trilogy. The first part of the trilogy called Life in the Clouds was released in December 2016, the second one The Immortal Forest in March 2017 and finally the third part The Living River in September 2017. At the same time, he collaborated on music preparation of Michal Novinski’s score to the feature film Barefoot, directed by the Oscar winner Jan Svěrák, which was released in August 2017. Shortly after, he collaborated in the same way on Plan B, a Polish film.

At the turn of 2016, he started a successful author collaboration with Remo Klačanský, his former classmate from the Conservatory. Together, they composed music for two TV series Kitchen and Mistresses, which aired on Slovak TV Markíza from March 2018.
 

Music for Film, TV and Multimedia:

  • 2018: Mistresses (TV series)
  • 2017: Plan B (music preparation)
  • 2017: Barefoot (music preparation)
  • 2017: Kitchen (TV series)
  • 2017: The Living River (documentary film)
  • 2017: The Immortal Forest (documentary film)
  • 2016: Life in the Clouds (documentary film)
  • 2016: The Teacher (orchestration, music preparation)
  • 2015: Wilson City (orchestration, music preparation)
  • 2013: Don’t Judge A Book (online spot)
  • 2012: Taste of Love (TV series)
  • 2011: Dreamy Poems (children’s poetry book)
  • 2011: Lóve (feature film)
  • 2010: Perdition (student short film)
  • 2010: Hockey Heroes of Slovakia (online project)

Concert Works:

  • 2017: Prelude and Fugue for Piano No. 1, Op. 15
  • 2017: Fugue for Violin, Cello and Piano No. 3, Op. 14
  • 2016: The Show Must Go On (Variation Rondo on a Theme by Queen), Op. 13
  • 2016: Fugue for Violin, Cello and Piano No. 2, Op. 12
  • 2016: Fugue for Violin, Cello and Piano No. 1, Op. 11
  • 2016: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 10
  • 2015: Pod horou, pod horou (for SATB Choir), Op. 9
  • 2015: Omnia Sponte Fluant (for French Horn, Soprano and SATB Choir), Op. 8
  • 2015: Dicenda Sunt Omnia (for SATB Choir), Op. 7
  • 2014: Rocky Meets Beethoven (Variations for Sax, Violin and Piano), Op. 6
  • 2014: Song Cycle for Contralto and Bass, Op. 5
  • 2014: Rondo Eversum, Op. 4
  • 2013: Three Images (Suite for Bassoon, Viola and Cimbalom), Op. 3
  • 2013: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 2
  • 2012: Four Preludes for Piano, Op. 1

 

PhDr. Tomáš Surý, ArtD. – Librettist / Lyricist

www.sury.sk

He is a graduate from the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of the University of Trnava (History or Arts and Culture) and the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (Opera Directing, Theory of Music).

Throughout his career, he has been interested mainly in 18th century opera. The following opera performances belong among his most significant direction projects: Johann Joseph Fux: Constanza et Forteza – revived world staging (conducted by Marek Štrncl, Musica Florea ensemble, choreographed by Helena Kazárová, 31 July and 1 August 2015 (Světce near Tachov, Czech Republic); reprise on 24 August 2016 at Barokowe Ekspoloracie v Szczawnici international festival (Szczawnica, Poland)), Joseph Haydn: La canterina (Bratislava 2015), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Bratislava 2014), W. A. Mozart: La sposo deluso (Slovak premiere, Bratislava 2013), Joseph Haydn: La canterina (Bratislava 2012), Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfee ed Euridice (Bratislava 2003, 2016).

He has dealt with Early Music also as assistant director on several projects, for example: W. A. Mozart: Così fan tutte (2013, Teatru Astra, Victoria, Gozo, Malta, directed by Maria Luisa Bigai, conducted by Michelangelo Galeati), W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni (2011, Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav City Theatre, directed by Pavol Smolík, conducted by Marián Lejava), W. A. Mozart: Così fan tutte (2002, Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava, directed by Andrea Hlinková, conducted by Ondrej Lenárd, Miroslav Oswald). A. Draghi: Il marito ama piu (Days of Early Music international festival 2002, Bratislava Castle, directed by Roman Bajzík, Solamente naturali ensemble, musical rendition by Stephen Stubbs).

He has participaed several times on projects authentically reviving rarely staged 18th-century melodramas: Anton Zimmermann: Andromeda and Perseus (direction, translation of the text, its staging), musical rendition by Marián Lejava, Apollo festival orchestra, Days of Early Music international festival, Dvorana concert hall of the APA, Bratislava 2009, Jiří Antonín Benda: Ariadne on Naxos (assitant director), musical rendition by Peter Zajíček, directed by Pavol Smolík, Dvorana concert hall of the APA, Bratislava 2007, Jiří Antonín Benda: Ariadne on Naxos + Medea (assistant director), musical rendition by Anton Popovič, Musica Aeterna orchestra, Bratislava Music Festival (Bratislavské hudobné slávnosti), Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava 2002.

Tomáš Surý also stages operas of more recent music styles. He collaborated as director with Ondrej Lenárd, a conductor, and Adriana Kučerová, a soprano, on staging Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava 2005) and Ch. W. Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava, 2003).

The main 20th century opera composers he has dealt with are Bohuslav Martinů (Tears of the Knife, Bratislava, 2015, Voice of the Forest, Ostrava, 2010, Comedy on the Bridge, Ostrava, 2010) and Gian Carlo-Menotti (Amelia al ballo, Bratislava, 2013, The Telephone, Bratislava, 2003, musical rendition by Sarah Meredith, an American vocal pedagogue, the role of Lucy performed by Adriana Kučerová). Some of the abovementioned operas were Slovak premieres.

Tomáš Surý has collaborated many times on scene and costume preparation for musical theatre performances. In 2003, he created light design for two concerts of Iva Bittová (Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava; St. James’s Church, Trnava)

He has acted as writer and director to several author comedy collages, e.g. Enchantment with a Transformation or Birth of a comedy from the Spirit of Music (LAB Theatre, Bratislava, 2015), Hair or Young Love Is a Paradise (LAB Theatre, Bratislava, 2014). Knitting Venus or Sentimental Scenes with a concentrate of emotions (Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav City Theatre, Bratislava 2012), Spitcracker or the Last Christmas before the Next End of the World (LAB Theatre, Bratislava 2011), Bartered Rusalka – a surreal fairy tale in a setting of a popular self-help circus (LAB Theatre, Bratislava, 2010, Cooltour cultural centre, Ostrava, 2012), Figaro frammentato (Small Stage of the Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava 2010), Everyting is as it is Meant to Be – Mandatory Happiness in Six Real Tableaux (Štúdio 12 Theatre, Bratislava, 2001), Waiting Room (Small Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava, 2002).

With his plays, he participated in international festivals, e.g. Barokowe Eksploracje, Dworek Goscinny, Szczawnica Poland, 2016; Operowe Forum Mladych, Bydgoszcz, Poland, 2011; Dni Muzyky Wokalnej, Katowice, Poland, 2011, (Martinů: Voice of the Forest) + Comedy on the Bridge; Ostrava Museum Night 2011 (Martinů: Comedy on the Bridge); Church Night, Trnava 2011 (O Francisce Christi forme); Dilong’s Trstená 2010 (In honorem S. Francisci); Following Gagarin, Bratislava, 2001 (I Am Leaving the Earth to Go to Heaven).

He authored several plays which he also directed: I Am Leaving the Earth to Go to Heaven (Bratislava, 2001); Margita and Besná (Trnava, 1995).

He made his literary debut by writing a novella The Necessity of Crying for Men: Proportionally Short Poems in Prose (published by Theatrica, 2014).

His main theoretical focus is on the history and aesthetic of musical and dramatic genres, especially on 17. – 19. century opera, on the history of art, chiefly on 13. – 18. century Italian art, on Medieval iconography, on Franciscan art and on Classical and Christian symbolism.

He is also a professor at the APA in Bratislava (Opera studio, History of Opera, History and Literature of Singing, Seminar of Opera Dramaturgy, History of Art, Analysis of Dramatical Texts), at the University of the Third Age of the Comenius University (World of Opera, History of Art), moreover, he teaches specialized courses of Theatrica civic association.