About Ensemble

Cappella Mariana is a vocal ensemble specializing in medieval and Renaissance polyphony and the vocal repertoire of Early Baroque.

The performances of Capella Mariana have met with enthusiastic reception from the public and critics alike, the latter highlighting the ensemble’s expressive performance based on close attention paid to the text.

Cappella Mariana was founded in 2008 as one of the few local ensembles focussing on the interpretation of high vocal polyphony, especially from Italian, Flemish, and English Renaissance.

The ensemble is an artistic guarantor of the concert cycle Lenten Fridays which aims to revive the historical tradition of musical performances held at the Monastery of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star.

The members of the ensemble are internationally renowned vocal artists who also specialize in the interpretation of Baroque and pre-Romantic music.

It regularly performs at music festivals and on prestigious stages both in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe, including Oude Muziek Utrecht, MAfestival Brugge, Laus Polyphoniae Antwerpen, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alte Musik, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Svatováclavský hudební festival, and Concentus Moraviae.

Cappella Mariana has received critical acclaim both at home and abroad and has appeared extensively on the Czech Radio. The ensemble’s CD titles include a recordings Sacrum et Profanum, Praga Magna with repertory of the court of Rudolf II, a unique manuscript of Renaissance polyphony Codex Speciálník, and, most recently, Song of Songs, a CD released on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Cappella Mariana and Praga Rosa Bohemiae released in 2019 by Supraphon.

The ensemble works under the artistic direction of Vojtěch Semerád, a graduate of Charles University, Prague, and Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris who further pursues his interest in vocal polyphony and researches in the area of 15th- and 16th-century music of Central-European provenience.   

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