Czech-Slovak cultural festival coming to Cedar Rapids museum

CEDAR RAPIDS — As the leaves turn gold, the golden birthday celebration continues for the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in southwest Cedar Rapids.

But the upcoming festival, “Czech and Slovak Echoes in the USA,” also reaches into Spillville and Chicago. Overarching dates are Oct. 25 to Nov. 4, with the main portion held at the Cedar Rapids museum Oct. 28 to Nov. 3. Admission is free for museum events, and suggested donations will support the museum, located at 1400 Inspiration Place SW.

Curated by the Czech arts organization Sagittario, the festival will offer a cornucopia of classical music concerts, an exhibition, a fashion show, workshops and documentary film screenings.

Opera “Rusalka”

Centerpiece will be two concert performances of Antonin Dvorak’s opera, “Rusalka,” at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 and Nov. 3 in the Cedar Rapids museum’s WFLA/ZCBJ Heritage Hall. It’s the story of a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince, and makes a deal with an evil witch to trade the mermaid’s voice for legs. Sound familiar? This isn’t the Disney version where everything ends happily ever after. In the opera world, things seldom end happily ever after, but the journey is worth the ride.

All of the performers live in the Czech Republic. Sopranos alternating the lead roles of Rusalka and the Foreign Princess are Eliska Gattringerova and Bree Nichols. Conjuring the Witch is mezzo-soprano Jolana Slavikova, nominated this year for the Czech Opera Thalia Award for her role as Eve in Myslivecek’s oratorio “Adam and Eve.” Peter Berger will portray the Prince, with Jozef Benci as the Water Goblin. Accompanists are Ahmad Hedar on piano and Roxana Hadler on harp.

More music

The festival’s entire musical segment pays tribute to the “Year of Czech Music 2024,” featuring works by renowned Czech composers Dvorak, Leos Janacek and Bohuslav Martinu, as well as lesser-known composers Jan Vaclav Hugo Vorisek, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Vítezslava Kapralova.

Performing artists will include top Czech musicians violinist Jan Mracek, pianist Lukas Klansky, guitarist Barbora Kubikova, and harpist Roxana Hadler. American baritone Michael Hix will join Czech pianist Ahmad Hedar and American flutist and composer Beth Ratay in a new song cycle, “Two Worlds,” based on texts by lyricist Ales Navratil, at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in the Cedar Rapids museum’s Heritage Hall.

Two concerts will be held in two different St. Wenceslaus churches. “Unexpected Connections” will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at St. Wenceslaus Church in Cedar Rapids, 1224 Fifth St. SE, featuring works by Dvorak, Smetana and Vorisek, with 2013 Concertino Praga International Broadcast winner classical guitarist Barbora Kubokova, and leading Czech pianist Lukas Klansky.

The other, “an Evening of Czech Music in the Land of Dvorak,” will begin at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 in St. Wenceslaus Church, 207 Church St., Spillville, performed by Czech Philharmonic concert master violinist Jan Mracek and pianist Klansky. It’s the same church where Dvorak attended Mass in the summer of 1893, and enjoyed playing the 1876 pipe organ which has been restored and remains in the church.

Visual arts

In the festival’s visual arts segment, guests can see a fashion show by Beata Rajska, whose new collection is inspired by folkloric elements. Slated for 7 p.m. Oct. 29 in the museum’s Grand Hall, the fashion show will be preceded by a parade of national costumes worn by women from the local American community.

The museum also will feature an exhibition of children’s book illustrations by one of the most sought-after Czech illustrators, Marketa Vydrova. She also will lead “Draw Your Universe,” a free workshop and discussion from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 2 designed especially for families with children.

Food

For culinary enthusiasts, two baking workshops will be offered, led by Petra Burianova, winner of the first season of Czech Television’s “The Great Bake Off.” Participants can try their hand at making traditional Czech pastries and gingerbread, along with decorating them. Sessions will be held at the museum from 2 to 6 p.m. Nov. 2 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 3.

Documentaries

Festival goers also can see screenings of documentary footage and films. Director Petr Krejci’s “Seeing the Homeland” will be shown during the Oct. 28 opening at the Cedar Rapids museum. He is known for his acclaimed documentary series “Landscapes of Home,” which aired on Czech Television.

Slovak cinema will be represented by a documentary by director Iveta Malachovska titled “A Legend Named Peter Dvorsky,” being shown at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 in Hemphill Theater at the Cedar Rapids museum. This film pays tribute to the world-famous Slovak “Pavarotti,” tenor Peter Dvorsky, who conquered opera stages around the globe.

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