Singing connects. This phrase is also followed by our students attending the JAMU HF Choir under the direction of their colleagues from choral conducting. During individual rehearsals, students work on repertoire that is then presented at the end of the semester at concerts for the school or the public.
Choir rehearsals – every Wednesday 16:00 – 18:00 – classroom 205, HF JAMU
Who is the choir for?
- choir students – compulsory course throughout the entire period of study
- students of orchestral conducting – compulsory course for the first 2 years of study
- students of singing or other JAMU disciplines – elective course, we welcome you with open arms!
Why join the Practice Choir?
4 times Yeah! For the Practice Choir!
- Yeah! Because it’s an opportunity for choral students to work with a stable vocal ensemble!
- Yeah! Because you have the opportunity to improve your choral singing and get vocal training!
- Yeah! Because you get to meet great people across different disciplines and departments!
- Yeah! Because taking the course is graded for credit!
Who leads the drill team?
Mgr. MgA. Jan Ocetek, Ph.D. /2016– present/
Czech choirmaster, pedagogue and founder of the JAMU HF Choir. He is currently active in many choirs: the Vox Iuvenalis choir of the Brno University of Technology, the Masaryk University Choir, the Mixed Choir Kantiléna, and the children’s choirs Colory and Colorky at the Arthur Nikisch Elementary School in Bučovice.
He graduated from the Faculty of Performing Arts of the Czech Academy of Performing Arts, the Faculty of Music of the Czech Academy of Performing Arts, and the JAMU in Brno (conducting under doc. Lubomír Mátl). At many festivals and competitions in the Czech Republic and abroad he has received jury awards for his outstanding conducting performance. He is the artistic director of the nationally acclaimed GYMNASIA CANT showcase of grammar school choirs and teaches at the Department of Composition, Conducting and Opera Direction at the Faculty of Music, JAMU Brno.
MgA. Gabriel Rovňák, Ph.D. /2016– present/
Graduate of orchestral conducting at the Bachelor, Master and Doctoral level at the JAMU from the class of prof. Mgr. Jan Zbavitel. Since the academic year 2017/2018 he has been his internal teacher.
In the course of his conducting career he has collaborated with many orchestras (Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Košice, Slovak State Chamber Orchestra Žilina, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Philharmonie B. Martinů Zlín, Blansko Chamber Orchestra and others) and choirs (Bratislava Boys Choir, Primavera Brno Children’s Choir, Lúčnica Choir, Canens Choir and others).
Choir students:
Jiří Lang (2020-present)
Pavel Těšík (2021-present)
Patrik Buchta (2020-present)
Michal Dvořák (2016-2021)
Markéta Ottová (2016-2021)
Stanislav Smoček (2016-2019)
History of the Training Corps
Mgr. MgA. Jan Ocetek, Ph.D., who at that time was studying for his doctorate at the HF JAMU. The idea also caught on with the management, and in the winter semester of 2016 the first group of singers began rehearsing under the direction of three choral conducting students and their pedagogical guidance.
At this time the choir was attended by twelve singers. The pedagogical guarantors of the course were prof. Blanka Juhaňáková (long-time choirmaster of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir) and assistants Pavel Koňárek (choirmaster of the NdB Opera Choir) and Jan Ocetek (choirmaster of Vox iuvenalis Brno), as well as MgA. Gabriel Rovňák, Ph.D.
Since then, the choir has continued to develop in terms of quality and number of students, which would be – if it were not for the current pandemic situation – around twenty-five.
Join us!