My dear audience and fans,
thank you for being so lovely and faithful audience to me in 2009. It was a great pleasure for me to play for you arround the Globe!
I wish you a very merry Christmas!
And as a Christmas gift let me invite you all to watch my live performance on 22.12.2009 at 20.00 on Czech TV1 programme at live show "The Sportman of the year 2009" awards, where you will hear my very unussual performance of Vivaldi's Winter as you may never heard before. I hope,you will enjoy it as much as I did prepearing my performance.
Happy New Year 2010!
Looking forward to seeing you next year!
Yours,
Gabriela Demeterova
Violinist, violist, soloist of world orchestras, the first Czech finalist and absolute all prize winner in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in England, member of the artistic council of the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, acknowledged as “The Woman of the Year 2005“ in competition of the prestigious Prague Leadrs Magazine ...
Gabriela Demeterová started to play the violin at the age of three. In the Czech Republic, she studied at the Prague Conservatory and at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) under Prof. Nora Grumlíková. During her studies, she regularly took part in Master Classes all over the world. Moreover, in the year 2000, she completed her two-year post-graduate course at the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark, where she studied under Marta Líbalová. The specific rules of period performing practice she consulted with specialists in Holland.
Since 1980, she has entered many national as well as international competitions and was awarded many a prize, among others in Kocian’s violin competition in the Czech Republic. In 1987, she for the first time participated in the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition in England becoming the first Czech finalist. In 1993, she won there all main prizes, including the overall winner and a special prize for the best performance of J. S. Bach’s composition as the first all prize winner in the history. Also, she gained the 2nd prize, the Laureate title and The Prize of the Capital Town of Prague in the Prague Spring Violin Competition in 1992. In years 1992-1993 was Gabriela Demeterova twice awarded the Premier Prix of The Czech Musical Foundation for her achieved success and presentation of Czech culture on world class competition stages. In 1996 was Gabriela Demeterová nominated for the Talent of the Year award by the Harmonie Magazine. Her videoclips as the first in classical music field were nominated and awarded several times prize “Pecka roku” by AČRA association.
For many years, Gabriela Demeterová has been involved in baroque music study and performance; she plays a modern instrument using elements of period performing practice. Since 1998, she has been using the baroque tuning (415Hz), which is almost a halftone lower than what we use today. The result of the lower tuning is a better sound of the particular keys and their discord, a better possibility of work with upper partials, and a better tone-colour.
In the year 2001, Gabriela Demeterová started to study playing the viola. She has become one of the few musicians who play brilliantly both the violin and the viola.
As the title suggests, the ensemble was founded in 2005 by violinist Gabriela Demeterová. She is its soloist as well as artistic director. Its members are exceptional music personalities. They are all connected by a common dream of first class music interpretation and similar career standard.
"I am grateful I can afford to choose the best ones from my colleagues and together with them to attend to the splendid lady, Lady Music. It is the ensemble creating for me the much-needed base, in which I can fully realise my artistic visions", Gabriela Demeterová, founder of the ensemble, explains.
Collegium of Gabriela Demeterová is a versatile chamber orchestra. Its cast can be changed according to the repertoire and programme needs. Thus it can offer even special arranges of brilliant pieces for violin or viola, which are otherwise performed with a big symphony orchestra or piano only. The wide repertoire includes for example Brahms’s Hungarian Dances, Sarasate’s Gipsy Melodies, Tchaikovsky’s Valse-Scherzo, Dvořák’s Mazurek ...
An exceptional music achievement of the ensemble is performing and recording “Opella Ecclesiastica”, a set of church cantatas written by Czech baroque composer Josef Antonín Plánický. It was recorded at the chateau in Manětín, his birthplace, where he also worked in his lifetime. An integral collection of short compositions with deep biblical topics is full of melodious ideas and entirely comparable with the work of famous European composers of the period.
The ensemble of excellent musicians fulfilled their baroque dream not only to themselves, but also to their audience in a number of beautiful concerts. In 2005, they gave concerts e.g. at The International Festival of Chamber Music in Český Krumlov or The International Music Festival of Emma Destinnová in České Budějovice. In December 2005, they also took a successful concert tour of Japan. One of the most significant activities of the year 2006 was taking part in the Gala Programme celebrating the 50th anniversary of the company of Sazka in Prague Sazka Arena. The Collegium performed in the most recent Czech multi-purpose hall with the seating capacity of 18 000, as the only ensemble in the programme playing classical music.