Our team of lecturers
Alina Dubik - Island
Alina Dubik is a mezzo-soprano of Polish origin who has been living in Iceland for more than twenty years, where she settled with her family and acquired Icelandic citizenship. She studied singing at the University of Gdańsk under the guidance of Barbara Iglikowska and completed her master's degree with honors in 1985.
After her studies, she worked as a soloist at the Kraków Opera, with which she performed worldwide. Later, she settled in Iceland, where she regularly collaborates with the Icelandic Opera and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. On opera stages, she has portrayed roles such as Carmen (Bizet), Azucena in Il Trovatore (Verdi), Xerxes (Handel), Orfeo (Gluck), the Third Lady in The Magic Flute (Mozart), Lucie's mother in L'Amico Fritz (Mascagni), Filippyevna in Eugene Onegin(Tchaikovsky), and Mary in The Flying Dutchman (Wagner). She also performs as a concert singer, including works by Mozart, Verdi, Mahler, Brahms, and others.
As an interpreter of the song repertoire, she focuses on works by Russian, French, and German composers, such as Brahms, Musorgsky, Glinka, Rachmaninov, Fauré, and Shostakovich. In addition to her solo career, she teaches classical singing in Reykjavik. She has prepared numerous students for professional singing careers and for studies at prestigious universities, such as the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Michaela Koudelková - Czechia
Michaela Koudelková graduated in 2023 with triple honors cum laude in Recorder Playing from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg under the guidance of Peter Holtslag as part of the Konzertexamen program. In the same year, she also defended her dissertation at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. She completed her master’s degree cum laude in 2016 at the Academy of Music in Kraków, studying under Peter Holtslag and Erik Bosgraaf. She is also a graduate of the Brno Conservatory.
In 2025, she released her debut album Corelli – Handel Sonatas under the Supraphon label.
In 2024, together with the ensemble Overtone, she won the XII Concorso Internazionale di Musica Antica "Maurizio Pratola" in L'Aquila, Italy. At the same competition, Michaela also received the special "Luigi Tufano" award for the best performer on the traverso. In 2019 and 2022, she performed solo recitals at Fringe & Fabulous Fringe during the Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht. In 2019, she became a laureate of the Tel Aviv Recorder Competition in Israel, where she was awarded first prize. In 2018, she was a finalist in the Kaleidoscope Vocal and Instrumental Competition in Santa Monica (USA), where she was selected as one of 6 finalists out of 2000 participants from 88 countries.
Michaela is also a member of the newly formed ensemble Ensemble Sanguineus, with which she debuted in 2023 in Rheinsberg as finalists of the Rheinsberg Hofkapelle. This chamber ensemble focuses on historically informed performance of the Galant and Pre-Classical periods. Ensemble Sanguineus was selected this year for the EEEMERGING+ project, which supports and develops young ensembles in the field of early music. In the spring of 2023, as part of the Fondation Les Arts Florissants William Christie project, she performed in Thiré, France, with the ensemble Overtone and Varsovia Galante.
Michaela is also a three-time laureate of the performance competition at the Summer School of Baroque Music in Kelč and Holešov (2009, 2010, 2012). In 2011, she participated in the international Pro Bohemia Ostrava competition, where she won 1st place, the title of Laureate, and the Grand Prize. In 2012, she won 1st place and the overall victory in the recorder playing category at the national conservatory competition. In 2014, she won auditions for a solo appearance with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava. In 2015, she was a finalist in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition in the UK with the ensemble Il Giorno Felice. In 2016, she won 2nd place and a special award from Polish Radio Merkury at the chamber ensemble competition in Poznań with Ensemble Nomen Nescio.
Michaela Koudelková has performed at music festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad (Concentus Moraviae, Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, Tel Aviv Recorder Festival, Festival de Toroella de Montgrí, Svatováclavský Hudební Festival, Znojmo Music Festival, Haydn Music Festival, Music Festival, Janáček May, Musica Holešov, Bacha na Mozarta!, Młoda Muzyka Dawna, Opera Nova w Bydgoszczy, Dni Bachowskie, Nitrianská Hudobná Jeseň, Barok w Radości, Barok na Spiszu, Bach Kraków Festival). She has performed concerts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, England, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, and the USA.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she collaborates with ensembles such as {oh!} Orkiestra, Collegium Marianum, Musica Florea, La Tempesta, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Overtone, Musica Aeterna, Czech Ensemble Baroque, Capella Cracoviensis, Ensemble Opera Diversa, Moravian Chamber Orchestra, Cornu Copiae. As a soloist, she has also performed with Quartetto Nero, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava, Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra, Orkiestra Barokowa AMuz w Krakowie, and Sine Nomine Ensemble. With these ensembles, she has worked under the direction of Jose van Immerseel, Rubén Dubrovsky, Benjamin Bayle, Fabio Bonizzoni, Tomáš Netopil, and others.
Michaela has attended many masterclasses both in the Czech Republic and abroad, studying under renowned instructors (Bolette Roed, William Dongois, Thijs van Baarsel, Ketil Haugsand, Robert Hollingworth, Rachel Podger, Ashley Solomon, Corina Marti, Andreas Böhlen, Paolo Pandolfo, Rainer Zipperling, etc.). Since 2015, Michaela has also actively studied the traverso flute. She has taken individual lessons under the guidance of Kate Clark, Marcello Gatti, François Lazarevitch, Jana Semerádová, Lucie Dušková, and others.
Michaela Koudelková primarily focuses on the interpretation of early music and plays copies of period instruments. Since 2016, she has also been active in teaching, specifically in teaching recorder playing at the Brno Conservatory, where she is also the coordinator for recorder classes within the DVPP "Dechové soboty" and a lecturer for the "Mladé Talenty" courses. During her doctoral studies from 2017 to 2021, she taught baroque and classical chamber music at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. Since 2018, she has been invited as a recorder lecturer for the Summer School of Baroque Music in Holešov. At the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, she established the recorder department, which she has been teaching since October 2024.
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Gabriel Smallwood - USA
American harpsichordist Gabriel Smallwood is rapidly emerging as one of the most promising young musicians in the early music scene. A prizewinner at several prestigious international harpsichord competitions—including the Musica Antiqua Competition in Bruges, Belgium, the “Wanda Landowska in Memoriam” International Harpsichord Competition in Poznań, Poland, and the International Harpsichord Competition in Milan, Italy—he has captivated listeners with his impressive technical facility and his deeply nuanced and inspired playing.
Originally from South Carolina, Gabriel began his musical journey on the piano at age three. His passion for historical keyboard instruments was ignited at twelve when he first encountered the harpsichord. This fascination led to numerous research projects and performances during his teenage years, including solo and continuo roles with the South Carolina Bach Society. Gabriel commenced formal harpsichord training in 2019, towards the end of his Bachelor’s studies in Leipzig, and has since devoted himself entirely to early
music and keyboard instruments.
As a soloist and continuo player, Gabriel is in high demand, regularly performing with esteemed early music ensembles across Europe and in the United States. His deep affinity for historical keyboards has brought him to notable collections in Greenville (SC), Hamburg (DE), and Bologna (IT). Recording collaborations include work with the NDR Philharmonie and Diana Damrau for Warner Classics. In 2025, Gabriel will release his debut solo album with Ramée, a prestigious label under Outhere Music, featuring the
early works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
In addition to his performing career, Gabriel is an accomplished composer who has won multiple national competitions in the United States. His compositions have been performed by leading orchestras, including a notable performance by the Orchestra of St.
Luke’s at Carnegie Hall in 2012 as part of the Carmina Burana Choral Project.
Gabriel’s extensive training includes harpsichord studies with Tobias Schade, Mitzi Meyerson, and Menno van Delft; organ with Wolfgang Zerer; and piano with Alexander Meinel. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Christophe
Rousset, Pierre Hantaï, Frédérick Haas, Skip Sempe, Carole Cerasi, Ketil Haugsand, and Catalina Vicens. He currently studies harpsichord with Francesco Corti and basso continuo with Jörg Andreas Bötticher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel,
Switzerland, the world’s leading institution for early music. Additionally, he studies medieval and Renaissance keyboard music under the tutelage of Corina Marti.
Tereza Horáková - Czechia
Tereza Horáková (born in 1999 in Prague) began her musical journey at the ZUŠ in Hostivař under the guidance of MgA. Ondřej Štochl. In 2015, she enrolled at the Prague Conservatory under Professor Pavel Kudelášek and, since 2022, has continued her studies with Professor Natalie Prishepenko at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden.
As a laureate of several national competitions, she continuously improves her skills at international masterclasses (Allegro Vivo with Sophie Jaffé, Ševčík Academy with Josef Špaček, masterclasses with Cynthia Freivogel, etc.).
Since childhood, she has been intensely drawn to contemporary music. She has performed solo with the Berg Chamber Orchestra, with the Opera Diversa ensemble, at concerts organized by the Konvergence association, and at the Forfest festival. As a co-founder of the Helix Trio, she presents contemporary works by Czech and international composers both in the Czech Republic and abroad.
In 2021, she performed the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Karol Szymanowski with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Miriam Němcová.
Parallel to this, she is also dedicated to historically informed performance, particularly German Baroque. She served as the concertmaster of the Baroque Orchestra of the Prague Conservatory (led by Jakub Kydlíček) and collaborates with ensembles such as Concerto Aventino, Collegium Marianum, and Czech Ensemble Baroque.
Her wide stylistic range – from contemporary premieres to Baroque repertoire performed on period instruments – makes Tereza Horáková a versatile performer with a keen musical sensitivity and a compelling artistic expression.
Richard Závada - Czechia
Richard Závada studied the lute at the Academy of Early Music at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University in Brno under Miloslav Študent (2004–2009), at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon with Eugène Ferré (France, 2009), and at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno with Jan Čižmár (2014–2019). He also participated in a number of performance courses under renowned instructors such as Dolores Costoyas, Christián Gutiérrez, Nigel North, Ariel Abramovich, Paul Beier, Rolf Lislevand, Joachim Held, and Brian Wright.
He began his musical education as a classical guitarist at the ZUŠ Adamov with Miloslav Vávra and continued private lessons with Jan Korger (2003–2007). He also studied electric guitar with Ota Pinkner (2005–2008) and took private vocal lessons with Pavel Josífk (2002–2003) and Hana Málková (from 2005). Since 2004, he has been playing historical instruments (shawm, bagpipes, lute-type instruments, etc.).
Since 2006, he has been the artistic leader of the group Bakchus, which specializes in the interpretation of medieval music. With this group, he has performed several hundred concerts across Europe and Japan.
In 1996, he founded the rock band Kovlad, also played in the Rammstein revival Brno group, and has been a guest performer with musical ensembles such as Czech Ensemble Baroque, Capella Regia Praha, Ensemble Musica Armonia, Ensemble Tourbillon, Westminster Opera (GB), Sinfonietta Baden (AT), Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Zlín, Brno Baroque, Polyfonion, and others. He has also sung in various choirs under the direction of Ivana Smolíková, Alexander Vacek, and Lukáš Sotolář. In 2006, he participated in recording male choirs for the CD and DVD of the American metal legend Manowar.
As a lutenist, he performs both solo and as a continuo player. He founded the ensemble Capella Antiqua Brunensis(since 2011), which focuses on the interpretation of Baroque music and the reconstruction of Baroque ballets, and the lute duo Infinitas (since 2012). He actively performs in the Czech Republic and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Cyprus, Japan).
He performs in theaters in both orchestras and on stage, including La Dafne and Don Giovanni at the National Theatre in Brno, Romeo and Juliet and Draci noci a spol. (sonets) at the Divadlo v Celetné, Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It at the Vinohrady Theatre, Dido and Aeneas (Chateau de Panloy – France 2013), L'Orfeo at Schloßtheater Schönbrunn (Vienna 2015), Don Giovanni at the Znojmo Music Festival 2016, music recording for the performance Tvrz (Komedie husitská) at the Bolek Polívka Theatre. He occasionally works for film and radio, including Borgia, Cyril and Methodius (ČT), Die Pilgerin, Marthes Geheimnis, Die Puppenspieler, Three Musketeers (BBC), Sofia, Knightfall, Ophelia, Marie Theresa, Seer 2, Journey to the King of Trolls / Askeladden, Whiskey Cavalier, Kriminalka Praha, Letter for the King, Magical Queen, Miracle Workers 2, commercial for Apericube and The King – PlayStation 4 (Sony), and scenic music for Czech Radio’s productions such as David and Bathsheba by Torgny Lindgren, The Mystery of the Manuscript, The Suffering of St. Wenceslaus, and more. He also recorded music for the famous computer game Kingdom Come Deliverance by Warhors Studios.
Marek Čermák - Czechia/
artistic preparation of the opera
Marek Čermák is a graduate of orchestral conducting from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. His specialization focuses on the interpretation of music from the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century, based on the Italian stylistic tradition. The theoretical and historical knowledge related to period music practices is grounded in the study of relevant sources, literature, treatises, and archival materials from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The results of his thorough and systematic research are used not only for further shaping and refining the stylistic musical aesthetic but also to combat inappropriate, expressively harmful layers and widespread myths of the early pioneers of so-called authentic interpretation. In light of his acquired experience, he presents to the public, through musically-revealing projects, the quality of our ancestors' art as a collection of values that directly opens up the perception of local listeners. He has expanded his activities to include teaching at Masaryk University in Brno within the Academy of Early Music.
He is the artistic director of the ensemble Musica Figuralis, and collaborates with ensembles such as Collegium Wartberg, Societas incognitorum, Capella Ornamentata, Solamente naturali, Le nuove musiche, Czech Ensemble Baroque, Die Freitagsakademie, Originalklang!Orchester, and Ensemble versus.
Sarah Jedličková - Czechia/
directing of the opera
Sarah Jedličková specializes in music direction and playing the cello. In 2019, she successfully graduated from the Prague Conservatory in the class of M. Kaňka. Simultaneously, since 2016, she studied music direction at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU), where she obtained her master's degree in 2023 and continued into a doctoral program.
During the 2020/2021 academic year, she completed a study abroad internship at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in the field of music technology. There, she focused on electroacoustic composition under the guidance of Alleandro de Monte Oca and Alleandro Olarte, as well as studying cello with Raimo Sariola. In 2022, she was awarded the Hlávka Foundation Prize.
During her studies, she participated in numerous international music courses, where she had the opportunity to work with figures such as E. Osadchy and K. Žvak. She performed several times at concerts organized by the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation and gave a number of solo recitals in the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Canada, and Finland.
As a music director, she collaborates with several soloists, including Svetlana Smolina, Vladimir Milošević, Gert Hecher, ensembles such as the Kukal Quartet, Corvus Quartet, and orchestras such as the Baroque Orchestra of the Prague Conservatory and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
In addition, she is building collaborations with various artists across different art fields. As an interpreter-performer, she participated in projects such as UMPRUM.wav at the Salone di Mobile in Milan, in collaboration with D3 UMPRUM and Never Sol, as well as Out of Comfort, a project by choreographer Michaela Dzurovčínová. In the field of sound design, she worked on projects like Picturam (a dance performance by Evi Rezová), Schena Maaro (Sound design and performance at fashion shows "We are Next," "Diplomaselection" for a collection by designer Sylvie Leitmannová), and the dance performance Pilgrims by choreographer Anna Benháková.
