Prague Quiet Music Festival 2023

This year’s edition of the Prague Quiet Music Festival returns to the magical spaces of the Fortna monastery, presenting several concerts and world premieres of fragile music full of subtle sonic details. Visitors will also be able to immerse themselves in the world of quitude through contemplative workshops, a tea bar, and a reading room.

Saturday’s pre-festival evening will present the first Czech performance by the American pianist Ashlee Mack, whose recital will include works by Marti Epstein, James Romig, Anthony Donofrio, and Jürg Frey, as well as a world premiere by Ian Mikyska.

A Sunday full of slowly flowing music will open with the wind section of the Vertigo group, Marcel Bárta and Oskar Török, who will spin the web of their improvisationally quieted set across the Fortna garden, a green oasis floating above the city of Prague. The festival’s main guest will be Swiss composer Jürg Frey, doyen of the Wandelweiser composer’s group and an icon in the world of quiet music. His first appearance in the Czech Republic will include not only the premiere of his 30-minutes piece Longing Landscape, written for the Prague Quiet Music Collective, but also a solo recital that will conclude with his Leaves, Instruments, for which he will be joined by all the day’s performers – not only with their instruments, but also with a part for autumn leaves. The Prague Quiet Music Collective concert will present Frey’s new piece along with two other world premieres by American composers James Romig and Paul Beaudoin.

Introduction to Meditation – Silent Meditation for Beginners and Up
Moments of inner quieting, stopping. Lead by Pavel Pola OCD. The workshop will take place on the upper floor of Fortna, with a terrace overlooking Prague. Participants should bring an open mind and loose clothing in which thry can sit comfortably. Everything else will be provided. The number of workshop participants is limited; entry is only possible with a valid workshop ticket.

Drink Without Reason – meditative tea workshop (sold out)
This workshop won’t present participants with technical information about tea preparation, nor details about its origins, terroir, or processing. What they will mostly be doing is drinking tea. Tomáš Rajnoch from the Meetea studio will guide them through a tea ceremony in which tea will become a research tool – a guide on a journey through their own body. After a short introduction, Tomáš will merely suggest some of the paths down which tea can lead them. The workshop will then flow into an open silence in which they can remain for the remainder of the programme. The number of workshop participants is limited; entry is only possible with a valid workshop ticket.

Programme:

• Saturday 9. 9. 2023
  • 19.30 Ashlee Mack
• Sunday 10. 9. 2023
  • 15.00–16.00: Drink Without Reason – meditative tea workshop (entry only with a valid ticket for the workshop)
  • 15.00–16.30: Introduction to Meditation – Silent Meditation for Beginners and Up (entry only with a valid ticket for the workshop)
  • 17.00–18.00: Marcel Bárta & Oskar Törok
  • 18.30–19.30: Prague Quiet Music Collective
  • 20.00–21.30: Jürg Frey