Michiyo Keiko was born in Kobe/ Japan. She graduated from the Kniplov Conservatory of Performing Arts, where she studied at Prof. Yaukazu Kondo.
Already during her studies she performed at the F.X. Saldy Theatre in Liberec (Agatha in "Carostrelec", Lucie in "Lucie of Lammermoor", Chloe in "Dame der Pique")
After her studies she
became a soloist at the F.X. Saldy Theatre and later at the Stravovsky Theatre
and today at the National Theatre Opera in Prague.
Her repertoire contains coloratura, Opera music, etc. (Gilda in "Rigoletto",
Susanne in "La noze di Figaro", Co-Co-San in "Madame Butterfly",
Despina in"Cosi van Tutte"...).
Her outstanding music was already broadcasted several times in Czech television and radio.
She also participated in the International Antonin Dvorak Competition in Karlsbad where she presented Czech opera and Czech songs and was the finalist.
Michiyo Keiko is one of the foremost soloists in the Czech Republic and received the hounorable award of the Masaryk Academy of Performing Arts.
Vratislav Kríz, born on July 17, 1957 in Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1981. He has participated successfully in various contest, including the Antonín Dvorák Contest where he won awards in both the domestic and international categories.
The first theatre engagement Vratislav Kríz held was with the State Opera in Ústí nad Labem where he performed for four years (1983-1987). During this time he also was awarded Second Prize in the Mozart Contest in Prague.
In 1987, Vratislav Kríz became a soloist of the National Theatre Opera in Prague where he is a celebrated star. In addition to his work with the National Theatre Opera in Prague, Vratislav Kríz performs in concerts in the Czech Republic and abroad. He has been invited by BRT (Belgium Radio and Television) to Brussels and Antverpen and by the BBC to perform Biblical songs in Cardiff.
He also participated in Opera Festival ENNA in Denmark where he presented Czech opera and songs. With the National Theatre in Prague he performed at the opera festival in Wiesbaden, Germany and in Thessaloniki, Greece. He has been invited for a concert tour in Switzerland and Germany and also to perform concerts in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
He is one of the best Czech violinists of the present day. He first studied at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Musical Arts as a student of Prof. Frantisek Pospísil and Václav Snítil, then completed his education at master course led by Nathan Milstein and Gidon Kremer.
Svencený´s concert tours have covered every continent. He regularly performs as a soloist with Czech and world orchestras, as well as at international festivals (Prague Springs, Palermo, Bilbao, Gewandhaus Leipzig etc.). He has been invited as a teacher not only to many European countries, but also to USA, South America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
So far he has recorded 26 CDs with the works of Czech and world composers. He was the first Czech violinist to record for Sony Classical World Series. In 1996 he was awarded the prize of Masaryk Academy of Arts.
Svecený is not only a well-known populariser of violin music, whose radio and television projects attract large audiences, but he is also recognised as an expert in violin construction.
In 1985 he graduated from the Prague Conservatory (concentration in piano and composition) and in 1990 from the School of Music of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (concentration in composition).
Work: Besides compositions of so-called "classical music" (Metamorphoses of Symphony Orchestra, Concerto for Flute and Strings) he has to his credit almost seventy musical scores for films, television dramas and for the theatre.
Recently he has been working closely with the National Theatre in Prague ballet troupe - he has created the musical parts for ballets called the Young Mr. Friedmann, Psycho, Tschaikovsky, Coppélia, Isadora Duncan and for the dance comedy "Some like it ..."
As an instrumentalist he was active for five years in the Radio Prague Big Band and later became a founding member of several jazz ensembles (Hot Line, Jazzpress), which has reaped and still reaps success at club and festival stages at home and abroad. He took part in the recording of several dozen record albums as a pianist, arranger as well as producer.
He has been working together with Jaroslav Svecený since 1997 and found in each another ideal partners for successful concerts, where various musical genres meet and interact and where the established concepts about musical stereotypes have been demolished.
