>>> JISKŘIČKA CHILDREN’S CHOIR PRESENTS
> “We sing songs we like…”
The Jiskřička Children’s Choir was founded in 1985 by choirmaster Dana Škardová, who continues to direct the choir artistically today. What was originally a handful of enthusiasts has since grown into a sixty-member ensemble comprised of two sections—a preparatory choir and a performing choir. The choir features children aged 7 to 18 from Prague and its surroundings.
The Jiskřička Children’s Choir has a long tradition and an excellent name, attested to not only by its broad spectrum of activities but also by its numerous achievements – silver and several gold medals at international children’s choir competitions and festivals at home and abroad (Nationwide Children’s Choir Competition in Nový Jičín, International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music with the Petr Eben Prize, Pražská snítka and others); concert tours and collaboration with foreign choirs (e.g., the Dutch children’s choir Manner Chor Zelhem, the choir of the P. Cornelia Conservatory in Mainz); staging and performing H. Krása’s children’s opera Brundibár (in Czech, German and English); experience with studio recording for film and radio, appearances in radio and television programs, cooperation in shooting clips of songs for famous artists and popular singers (e.g., composer K. Pospíšil, singers H. Janků, B. Basiková, I. Bartošová); and regular concert performances during social events (Christmas, anniversaries and other cultural events).
Besides regular rehearsals, twice a year choir members go to an intensive two-year training camp, where they perfect their mastery of musical theory, learn instrumental skills and the basics of acting and dancing and study the choir’s repertoire for the upcoming season.
The choir’s current repertoire comprises:
> classic choral works from Czech and foreign artists
> folk songs from various parts of the world, sung in their original languages
> spirituals
> compositions from musicals and films
> Christmas songs from Bohemia, Moravia and foreign countries
> musical productions (now staging the original musical Aladdin’s Magic Lamp)
More info: www.jiskricka.cz
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>>> ALADDIN’S MAGIC LAMP
> an original musical based on the fairy tale One Thousand and One Nights
> music, screenplay, libretto: Miloš Krkoška
Once upon a time......
In faraway Arabia, the land of magic, ghosts and genies, the Evil Sorcerer foretells the future from his crystal ball. The spirits divulge to him that there is a place where an incredible treasure is hidden, a place where there is a Genie living in a lamp who will grant all his wishes. The catch is that the place may only be entered by a person of “pure heart”– and that is Aladdin, a simple village boy. And so the Sorcerer sets off to trick the boy into carrying out his plan…
Music composer Miloš Krkoška was born in Bratislava, where he studied composition at the conservatory. In 1984, he went abroad to continue his studies in Frieburg, Germany, and later in Vienna. In cooperation with EMI Music Publishing, his works are played all over the world. He has lived in the Czech Republic since 1999. His best known work here comprises film music – e.g., for Juraj Jakubisko’s Better to Be Rich and Healthy Than Poor and Sick, Zdeněk Troška’s Princess from the Mill fairy tales (I and II) and the comedy series Kameňák (I, II and III).
The musical Aladdin’s Magic Lamp was written based on the fairy tale One Thousand and One Nights. The music is a symbiosis of classic and pop-rock music with ethnic elements rendered by traditional Arabian instruments. Miloš Krkoška lent this work to the Jiskřička Children’s Choir for staging its debut performance. The choir is funding the whole project from its own resources.
