Kalabis. Beach. Françaix

Kalabis Quintet

The ladies in this quintet are players in top Czech orchestras (the National Theatre, PKF - Prague Philharmonia, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra). Their collaboration sprang up from the academic soil of the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. For collaborations, they often invite outstanding musicians not only from the Prague scene and academic circles (Radek Baborák, Tomáš Františ, Jiří Hlaváč, Štěpán Koutník, Jan Mach and others) but also world-renowned instrumentalists and specialists in chamber music (G. Pokorny, Vienna). They all contribute to and continually improve, their ensemble play, the sound and the overall image of the quintet, striving to impress their audiences since their beginnings in 2012.  

Their courage to take part in competitions brought success both at home and abroad. In 2014 they received two first prizes: the Viktor Kalabis Prize and the Czech Contemporary Music award, as well as an offer to play in a live broadcast for Radio ORF in Vienna. The competition in Vidnava, Poland, brought them a first prize and the title of Laureate and provided a springboard for a challenging preparation for a prestigious competition in Marseille, France (Concours International de Quintette à vent). The third place and title of Laureate means a great deal for the Quintet and demonstrate that Czech chamber music embraces the wind quintet in a major way. In the most recent Bucharest International Music Competition in 2019, they won third place. 

The Quintet collaborated with Czech television in a series of educational programmes, and they are frequently invited to record for Czech Radio as well.  

Zuzana Leimer — flute
Jarmila Jermářová — oboe
Anna Sysová — clarinet
Denisa Beňovská — bassoon
Adéla Psohlavcová — French horn