Gounod. Gershwin. Hindemith

The Belfiato Quintet is one of the most successful young chamber ensembles both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Its members are graduates from the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (in the class of Štěpán Koutník) and players from the leading Czech orchestras (the PKF — Prague Philharmonia, the Czech Philharmonic, the National Theatre Orchestra). The group regularly tours in the Czech Republic and abroad, for example, in the concert seasons of the Czech Chamber Music Society and in the chamber music series of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the PKF — Prague Philharmonia. The ensemble has toured with a repertoire built from the works of Czech composers in Katowice, Tokyo and London. The Belfiato Quintet was the recipient of the 1st prize at the Antonín Rejcha Competition at the festival in Semmering in Austria. In 2011, the group was awarded 3rd prize and the prize for best performance of a composition by Henri Tomasi at the Henri Tomasi International Woodwind Quintet Competition in Marseille, France. The Belfiato Quintet brought out their first CD entitled Music for Wind Instruments in June 2017 (Supraphon).

A recipient of ‘Classic Prague Award 2018’, Kateřina Kněžíková is one of the most significant figures in the contemporary Czech opera scene. She studied at the Prague Conservatory (2007) and the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (2010). She has won numerous competitions (e.g. the Antonin Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary). She has guested at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre and at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, the Theatre de Caen, Royal Opera of Versailles and Opera de Dijon. She has been a soloist of the National Theatre in Prague since 2006. Her repertoire includes Mozart and bel-canto roles such as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Despina (Così fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Adina (L’elisir d'amore), Juliette (Romeo et Juliette), Marguerite (Faust) and many others. She has worked with leading Czech and international musical groups such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg and the Czech Philharmonic. She has made recordings for Czech Radio, the MEZZO television channel and the RTFB International radio station in Belgium.