A public collection is now underway to help fund a tailor-made concert organ for the auditorium at the Janáček Cultural Center. The largest donors will have the opportunity to see their name or company name engraved on the largest pipes. If more funds than necessary are collected, this money will be used to decorate the concert hall with works of art. Visualisation: Architekti Hrusa a spol.
Brno, Sep 21, (BD) – Construction of the new Janáček Cultural Center should begin in the next year. The City of Brno’s flagship cultural investment will occupy the space between Vesela and Besední in the heart of the city centre, and will provide a state-of-the-art home for the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. Last Friday, Brno City Council launched a public fundraising campaign to raise money for the concert organ which will be the centerpiece of the new auditorium.
The centre will be the first new bespoke concert hall for symphonic music in the Czech Republic in almost 100 years. The main auditorium is intended to have world-class acoustics, allowing the Brno Philharmonic and other ensembles and soloists to be experienced at their best. In order to provide space for any repertoire, the hall will be equipped with a tailor-made concert organ, allowing Brno audiences to take in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass or the rhapsody of Taras Bulba with the sound the author intended.
The manufacturer of the organ itself has not yet been chosen. “In cooperation with experts, we have set the required specifications of the organ, not only to cohere to the elements of the space, but also to correspond exactly to the cubature of the hall – they were neither too strong nor too weak,” said Tomáš Koláčný (Piráti), Deputy Mayor for Culture. “After setting the specific requirements, we will contact manufacturers throughout Europe and around the world, and an expert committee will select the most suitable offer. This will be the first new concert organ for a classical concert hall in the Czech Republic in around 100 years, so we really want to pay maximum attention and consistency to its selection.”
The artistic vision of the new instrument is inspired by the Tree of Life. The exact design of the instrument and individual pipes will only be known when the tendering process is complete, but will cost in the tens of millions of crowns. The public collection, “An Organ for Brno”, opened on Friday, and those wishing to support the purchase of the organ are invited to contribute to the following transparent account:
5200247/0100
As of Monday evening, the fund had already collected over CZK 56,000 in donations. In addition, those who wish to sponsor individual pipes can donate CZK 2,000, CZK 5,000, CZK 10,000, CZK 15,000, CZK 20,000 or CZK 30,000, depending on their size. These donors will receive a commemorative gilded brooch in the form of a pipe, and their name will be entered in the donor book. The largest donors will have the opportunity to see their name or company name engraved on the largest pipes. If more funds than are needed for the organ are collected, this money will be used to decorate the concert hall with works of art.
