History Choirmasters

Daša Briškárová Štěpán Policer Alexander Vacek

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Choirmasters – Artistic Directors

Daša Briškárová
Štěpán Policer
Alexander Vacek - Choir Founder

Daša Briškárová

Daša Briškárová studied piano at the Music Conservatory in Košice, Slovakia. During her studies she also acquired experience in choral conducting while working with several choirs. Between 2000 and 2003 she worked as a choirmaster at the Jonáš Záborský Theatre in Prešov.

In 2006 Daša Briškárová graduated from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno where she had studied choral conducting with doc. Josef Pančík. She has been choirmaster of the Křenová Grammar School Choir and Pavel Křižkovský Grammar School Choir. Since 2004 she has been the assistant choirmaster and most recently the choirmaster of Gaudeamus.

She works as a répétiteur at the Janáček Theatre in Brno.

Štěpán Policer

After concluding his secondary education at the Biskupské gymnázium in Brno, Štěpán Policer studied the Czech language and Music at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Masaryk University in Brno. While studying, he acquired his first training and experience in choral conducting with PaedDr. Oldřich Severa in the APS Moravan choir and the Choir of the Pedagogical Faculty of the Masaryk University. Following the arrival of Alexander Vacek to the Music Department of the Pedagogical Faculty he joined the Gaudeamus choir.

Štěpán Policer is a graduate of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno where he studied choral conducting with doc. Josef Pančík. Nowadays, he continues his studies by attending the orchestra conducting classes of prof. Jan Zbavitel and doc. Rostislav Hališka. At the same time he attends postgradual study courses at the Music Department of the Pedagogical Faculty and specializes in the choirmaster school of Josef Veselka.

At present, Štěpán Policer is the conductor of the Choir of the North Bohemian Teachers in Česká Lípa and simultaneously works as a conductor and an organist in the Church of St. Johns’ in Brno. He also works as a teacher at the Grammar school in Líšeň, Brno. As the conductor of Gaudeamus he has given a number of concerts at home as well as abroad since 2003. In 2004 Gaudeamus was awarded Golden medal at the 14th International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music with Petr Eben’s Prize in Prague and a special prize for the outstanding performance of the conductor Štěpán Policer.

As a conductor he has cooperated with numerous music ensembles such as the Brno Academic Choir, the Brno Philharmonic Choir, the North Bohemian Philharmonic Choir, the Czech Virtuosi Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Czech Technical University in Prague and the North Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra in Teplice.

He actively participates in organizing cultural events in the Česká Lípa region. In 2003 he was the director and the chief dramaturge of the European Music Festival in Česká Lípa. In the same year he was a member of the jury at the nationwide choral singing competition Gymnasia Cantant in Brno.

Alexander Vacek

Alexander Vacek was born to the Czech Volhynian family in the town of Vinnica, Ukraine in 1955. The choice of his profession was influenced by his father, a doctor, who was an excellent singer and also played several musical instruments. A. Vacek graduated from the Faculty of Music at the Teachers’ Training College in Vinnica and in conducting from the Academy of Nyezdanovova, Odessa. He worked as a teacher of conducting and a choirmaster at his home college and later as the conductor of the Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra in the city of Zhitomir.

In 1986 he founded the OREYA choir which has achieved success at a number of international choral singing competitions. Among the most valuable awards are particularly the Grand Prix awards at the competitions in Meinhausen (1993), Tours (1995), Lindenholzhausen (1996), Montreaux (1998) and Wernigerode (1999). A. Vacek represented Ukraine at the international festival Bridges of Songs, he was invited to participate in the choral singing symposium in Phoenix (USA) by John Williams, the President of the Association of American Choirs, and he led the creative choral singing workshop in Edmonton (Canada).

Between 1996 and 2003 A. Vacek lived with his family in the Czech Republic. He worked as a special assistant at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Masaryk University in Brno, lecturing on intonation and choral conducting. In 1996 he established the students’ choir GAUDEAMUS. The choir held the status of the “Masaryk University Choir” in the years of 2000 – 2003.

Alexander Vacek is a member of IFCM (International Federation of Choral Music) and Intecultur and is regularly invited to take part in choral competitions as a member of international juries. As a choirmaster and a vocal pedagogue he is also asked to participate in symposia in the Czech Republic as well as abroad to give lectures and lead workshops. His name has been included to the encyclopedia “Who is who” issued in Great Britain as one of the most prominent personalities of the world of music.

At the International Oratorio Festival held at the Cathedral of the city of Autun (France) he conducted Antonín Dvořák’s cantata Stabat Mater in celebration of the Millenium. The masterwork was performed in cooperation with three choirs, the Symphonic Orchestra of the city of Pécze (Hungary) and the soloists of the Janáček Opera in Brno.

He was awarded a special prize for the outstanding performance of the conductor at the 17th International Festival of Academic Choirs IFAS Pardubice in 2002. At the 2nd World Choir Olympics in Pusan (South Korea) in October 2002 he was the only representative of the Czech Republic in the 40-member international jury.

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