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Czech out Czechomor & Lenka Dusilova

Sunday, October 15th

New Prague High School Auditorium

Doors open at 7, music starts at 8

New Prague, MINNESOTA, DUH! At the intersection of State Hwys. 19 & 21! The following was stolen without permission from Erick Sommers (so sue me):

Two-time Czech Grammy winner Lenka Dusilova and Czechomorâ??one of Eastern Europe’s premier folk-rock groupsâ??will tour southern Minnesota in mid-October, including a surprise Sunday-night stop in New Prague.

Czechomor, currently bringing their unique take on the folk traditions of Moravia to the United States with triumphant successâ??including a recent smash performance at New York’s Kennedy Centerâ??will perform with the celebrated Dusilova in the beautiful New Prague High School Auditorium at 8 pm Sunday evening, October 15th. This rare chance to experience their music in an unusually intimate setting (where the utmost pains have been taken to provide an enjoyable experience for all) is wide-open to the general public and all interested persons are warmly invited to attend. Arrangements will gladly be made for the elderly and those with unique needs.

Meeting in the supercharged atmosphere surrounding the Brno Musical Conservatory and setting out in 1988 as the “1st Czech-Moravian Musical Company,” Czechomor bandleader Karel Holas and primary collaborator Franta Cerny have consistently churned out unique, emotional original music, based on and woven through with long-forgotten folk melodies and, somehow, seeming to recreate through the mystery of music the history and stories of the ancient peoples of southeastern Europe. And while international audiences love their healthy doses of rock-and-roll energy, the band applies a careful, deliberate sensibility to the delicate, mysterious roots of their music.

In an interview with veteran Czech journalist Jiri Leschtina, published in the magazine Vikend, Holas said: “Folk songs are a terribly fragile thing, which you can easily spoil with your ideas. We open a tin can in which the song is being preserved and then we try it with everything possible. We will start out bravely, but we know that we may hit a wall. Some of our songs have as many as ten versions, until we work it out to the right one. Then we start playing it at a concert and only on the stage do we realize that it has been overdone. So we start again, changing and simplifying, until we are satisfied.”

Following this approach, they’ve consistently wowed audiences with their moving performances and has created thousands including such high-profile figures as Vaclav Havel. Havel’s interest in the groupâ??he is on record as naming them his favorite bandâ??opened doors for them in places they might not have otherwise found and they have played a large number of high-profile charitable events, further exposing this amazing and unique music to the world.

Dusilovaâ??winner of the influential Czech music magazine Report’s ‘best female vocalist’ award for four consecutive years beginning in 2000â??and who is widely acclaimed as one of Europe’s best indie artists, recently won two more prestigious awards, when she was named Andel Allianz Music Awards ‘Singer of the Year.’ Her album Mezy Svety also won the Andel Allianz Album of the Year as well as garnering the same title from the Czech Internet Music Awards.

The rare combination of two outstanding and acclaimed artists is a single concert is a lucky break for music-lovers in our area, especially in view of Czechomor’s recent, stunning success before a packed house of glittering celebrities in New York. Only in America!

Czechomor & Lenka Dusilova

Sunday, October 15th

Doors open at 7, music at 8

New Prague High School Auditorium