Ondřej Hás – 1st violin
Marek Blaha – 2nd violin
Matěj Kroupa – viola
Štěpán Drtina – cello
Matyáš Keller – 2nd cello
Pavel Ciprys – 2nd viola
Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F major, Op. 35 (30´)
Emil František Burian: String Quartet No. 5, Op. 99 (20´)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: String Sextet in D major, Op. 10 (35´)
The Pavel Bořkovec Quartet (PBQ) ensemble was founded in 2011 and, in addition to its interpretive art, attracts interest primarily through its unusual programming. It is one of the few musical ensembles in our country systematically dedicated to contemporary music. Thanks to its fresh repertoire and flawless performance, modern music played by the Pavel Bořkovec Quartet very quickly gains fans across the entire spectrum of listeners. In addition to works of classical quartet literature and contemporary works by their peers, the core of PBQ's work lies in the quartet oeuvre of Pavel Bořkovec (1894–1972), whose complete quartets the ensemble recorded for Czech Radio. Besides radio recordings, PBQ has released several CDs – the profile recording "Unexplored" (Tojejo Records, 2021), premiering previously unrecorded works, a CD of horn quintets in collaboration with Ondřej Vrabec (Sheva Contemporary, 2021), and a CD with a multi-genre crossover "Na svahu" (Warner Music, 2016). On this album of songs by Monika Načeva and Michal Pavlíček, arrangements were contributed by the quartet's violist Matěj Kroupa, who is Bořkovec's great-grandson and follows in his footsteps; he is dedicated to composing theater and film music. The quartet's effort to consistently present contemporary Czech music resulted, among other things, in a collaboration with Jiří Adámek and Martin Smolka on the chamber opera Labyrinth of Lists. PBQ is a finalist in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach (Austria 2018) and collaborates closely with the organization Post Bellum.
The Coal Mill was established around the beginning of the 20th century as part of the screw factory industrial complex. It served to grind coal into a fine powder, which was used for combustion in the adjacent boiler room and simultaneously in some of the screw factory's production processes, where fine coal contributed to the stable tempering of metals.
The building underwent a major renovation between 2010 and 2011 and was adapted for new use. The conversion was undertaken by architect Patrik Hoffman, and the sensitive adaptation was awarded the Grand Prix of Architects prize in 2013 for the exemplary reconstruction of an industrial building.
Today, the Coal Mill is a complex featuring a gallery of contemporary art, a design furniture showroom, and multifunctional spaces suitable for concerts, cultural events, or social occasions. The brick walls, high windows, and open industrial spaces still recall the original purpose of the building while providing an original backdrop for the cultural program.
