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 (born 1998) is one of the most outstanding talents of the young generation in the field of early music. In recent years, he has won the favor of the professional public and listeners by winning the prestigious competitions Musica Antiqua (Bruges), "Wanda Landowska in Memoriam" (Poznań) and the International Harpsichord Competition in Milan. The jury was impressed not only by his brilliant technique, but also by his extraordinary sense of style, the articulation of Baroque music and his consistent respect for historical sources.
South Carolina native began playing piano at age three; decisive encounter with harpsichord
At the age of twelve, he developed a lifelong passion for historical keyboards. During his high school years, he pursued several study projects focused on historical interpretation, which resulted in annotated recitals and collaborations with the South Carolina Bach Society (solo and continuo parts). He began his formal study of the harpsichord in 2019 at the Universität Leipzig, where he successfully completed a bachelor's degree in music theory and historical interpretation.
As a soloist and continuo player, Smallwood is a sought-after partner of leading European and American ensembles – he regularly appears at festivals in Bruges, Basel, Boston and Innsbruck. His fascination with historical keyboard instruments led him to study stays and professional consultations at leading museums of historical musical instruments – the Sigal Music Museum in Greenville (USA), Hamburg and Bologna; he put these experiences to good use when recording with the NDR Philharmonie and soprano Diana Damrau for the Warner Classics label. His debut solo album (Ramée /Outhere Music, 2025) will be performed on a copy of the 1734 Hamburg harpsichord by J. H. Hass and will present the early works of J. S. Bach.
Smallwood's work is not limited to interpretation: as a composer he has won several national awards in the USA. His music - inspired by Baroque forms but using contemporary means of expression - has been performed, for example, by the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall (2012, Carmina Burana project). Recently he has been working on a cycle of suites for solo harpsichord, which combine stylistic elements of French classicism with modern harmony.
He received professional guidance from Tobias Schade, Mitzi Meyerson and Menno van Delft (harpsichord), Wolfgang Zerer (organ) and Alexander Meinel (piano); he further deepened his knowledge in master classes with Christoph Rousset, Pierre Hantaï, Frédérick Haas, Skip Sempe, Carole Cerasi and Ketil Haugsand. He currently studies with Francesco Corti and Jörg Andreas Bötticher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, where he also intensively studies medieval and Renaissance keyboard literature under the guidance of Corina Marti.
The combination of precise playing technique, deep historical awareness, and creative imagination makes Gabriel Smallwood an artist whose concerts promise not only a virtuoso experience, but also a lively encounter with the spirit of ancient musical eras.
Tereza Horakova - Czech Republic
Prague violinist Tereza Horáková (1999) began her musical career at the Art School in Hostivař with MgA. Ondřej Štochl, in 2015 she entered the Prague Conservatory with Prof. Pavel Kudelásk and from 2022 she continues with Prof. 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 courses (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 of the Konvergence association and at the Forfest festival;
With the Helix trio, of which she is a co-founder, she presents contemporary works by Czech and foreign authors at home and abroad.
In 2021, she performed Karol Szymanowski's 1st Violin Concerto with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra conducted by Miriam Němcová.
At the same time, she is engaged in historically informed interpretation, especially of the German Baroque. She has served as concertmaster of the Baroque Orchestra of the Prague Conservatory (conducted by Jakub Kydlíček) and collaborates with the ensembles Concerto Aventino, Collegium Marianum and Czech Ensemble Baroque.
A wide range of styles – from contemporary premieres to Baroque repertoire on period instruments – makes Tereza Horáková a versatile performer with a keen musical sense and convincing artistic expression.
Richard Závada - Czech Republic
Richard Závada studied lute at the Academy of Early Music at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prague in Brno in the class of Miloslav Študent (2004-2009), at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon in the class of Eugene Ferré (France, 2009) and at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno in the class of Jan Čižmář (2014-2019). He also participated in a number of interpretation courses led by foreign lecturers 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 guitar player at the Adamov Elementary School with Miloslav Vávra and continued with private lessons with Jan Korger (2003-2007). Electric guitar with Ota Pinkner (2005-2008). In 2002-2003 he took private singing lessons with Pavel Josífek and from 2005 with Hana Málková. Since 2004 he has been playing historical instruments (shawms, bagpipes, lute-type instruments, etc.).
Since 2006, he has been the artistic director of the group Bakchus , which interprets medieval music, with which he has performed several hundred concerts throughout much of Europe and in Japan.
In 1996, he founded the rock band Kovlad, was also a member of the Rammstein revival Brno group, and guested in the musical ensembles Czech Ensemble Baroque, Capella Regia Praha, Ensemble Musica Armonia, Ensemble Tourbillon, Westminster Opera (GB), Sinfonietta Baden (AT), Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Zlín, Brno Baroque, Polyfonion, ... He also worked in various choirs under the direction of Ivana Smolíková, Alexander Vacek, and Lukáš Sotolář. In 2006, he participated in the recording of male choirs on CD and DVD for the American metal legend Manowar.
As a lutenist, he performs solo and as a continuo player. He founded the ensemble Capella Antiqua Brunensis (since 2011), which deals with the interpretation of baroque music and the reconstruction of baroque ballets, and the lute duo Infinitas (since 2012). He actively performs concerts 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 the orchestra and on stage, e.g. La Dafne and Don Giovanni at the National Theater in Brno, Romeo and Juliet and Dragons of the Night and others (sonnets) - Theater in Celetná, The Taming of the Shrew and How Do You Like It? - Theater in Vinohradech, Dido and Aeneas (Chateau de Panloy - France 2013), L'Orfeo at Schloßtheater Schönbrunn (Vienna 2015), Don Giovanni at the Znojmo Music Festival 2016, recording of music for the performance The Fortress (Hussite Comedy) - Theater Bolek Polívka. He occasionally works for film and radio – Borgia, Cyril and Methodius (ČT), Die Pilgerin, Marthes Geheimnis, Die Puppenspieler, The Three Musketeers (BBC), Sofia, Knightfall, Ophelia, Marie Therese, Clairvoyant 2, The Troll King's Journey / Askeladden, Whiskey Cavalier, Crime Scene Prague, Letter to the King, The Magic Queen, Miracle Workers 2, advertising for Apericube and The King – PlayStation 4 (Sony), incidental music for Czech Radio for the plays David and Bathsheba by Torgny Lindgren, The Mystery of the Manuscript, The Suffering of St. Adalbert and others. He also recorded music for the famous computer game Kingdome Come Deliverance by Warhors Studios.
Marek Čermák - Czech Republic/
artistic preparation of the opera
Marek Čermák graduated in orchestral conducting from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. His specialization focuses on the interpretation of music from the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries, which is based on the Italian stylistic tradition. He based his theoretical and historical knowledge regarding contemporary musical practice on the study of relevant sources, literature, treatises and archives from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The results of their consistent and systematic excerpting are used not only for the further formation and refinement of stylistic musical aesthetics, but also to combat inappropriate, expressively harmful deposits and blanket myths of the first pioneers of the so-called authentic interpretation. In the light of the experience gained, he presents to the public, through musical-discovery projects, the quality of the art of our ancestors as a set of values that directly open up the perception of the domestic listener. He 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 the ensembles Collegium Wartberg, Societas incognitorum, Capella Ornamentata, Solamente naturali, Le nuove musiche, Czech ensemble baroque, Die Freitagsakademie, Originalklang!Orchester, Ensemble versus.
Sarah Jedličková - Czech Republic/
directorial preparation of the opera
Sarah Jedličková is a music director and cello player. She successfully graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 2019 in the class of M. Kaňka. Since 2016, she has been studying music directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where she received her master's degree in 2023 and continued her doctoral study 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 Oc and Alleandro Olarte, and on playing the cello.
in the class of Raima Sarioli. In 2022 she received the Hlávka Foundation Award.
During her studies, she participated in a number of international music courses, where she had the opportunity to work with, for example, E. Osadchy or K. Žvak. She performed several times in concerts of the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation and gave a number of solo recitals in the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Canada and Finland.
As a music director, he collaborates with a number of soloists such as Svetlana Smolina, Vladimir Milošević, Gert Hecher, ensembles – Kukal Quartet, Corvus Quartet and orchestras – Prague Conservatory Baroque Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Among other things, she collaborates with various artists across artistic fields. As an interpreter-performer, she participated in the UMPRUM.wav projects at the Salone di Mobile in Milan.
in collaboration with D3 UMPRUM and Never Sol and Out of Comfort by choreographer Michaela Dzurovčínová. In the field of sound design, she collaborated on the projects Picturam (dance performance by Eva Rezová), Schena Maaro (Sound design and Performance at the fashion shows "We are Next", "Diplomaselection" for the collection by designer Sylvia Leitmannová) or the dance performance Poutníci by choreographer Anna Benháková.
