The Guitar Orchestra at the School of Performing Arts (ZUS) Jesenik

The Guitar orchestra at the School of Performing Arts in Jesenik was founded as a small band of twelve guitarists in 1998. The teacher Carmen Langerova was its founder. Having added a mandolin, bas guitar and some percussion instruments the band got more musically colourful and became an orchestra. Very interesting sounds are created by combining guitars with some other musical instruments, especially the flute and also singing. In 2003 the current conductor of the orchestra handed over the baton to her younger colleague Vaclav Dvorak.

The Guitar orchestra is made up of unusual instruments. Therefore it cannot rely on the tradition of wind and string orchestras, and so it is heading in its own direction. Presently there are almost no competitions, shows or festivals for these kinds of orchestras. However the big day came on 14.5.2005, when the first guitar orchestra competition took place in Hradec Kralove. The competition was named “Hradecke Guitarreando”. The ZUS Guitar orchestra Jesenik wan a Silver belt. Guitar orchestras from all corners of the Czech Republic took part in this competition. The repertoire of the Guitar orchestra is varied; it includes pieces of music from the classicism era, Moravian folk songs and also pieces of contemporary Czech composers, i.e. Jiri Taufer or Vladislav Petrasek. Latin-American dance songs are very popular and they appear on the concert programme of the orchestra more and more often. Since 2006 the Guitar orchestra has also been performing abroad. They had concerts in Slovak towns of Bojnice, Prievidza and Kanianka during 21-24. 6. 2006 and in June 2007 in Pakostane in Croatia and in October 2007 in Nysa in Poland.

The Guitar orchestra also cooperates with other musical bodies. The quires of ZUS Jesenik Zvonky and Zvonecky, which are lead by Anna Betakova and a group of flamingo dancers from the Dance studio of Lenka Bachova. The Guitar orchestra has had several successful performances together with these musical bodies and is planning more of them. The orchestra is also working on cooperation with others abroad, for example with a Finnish quire Kirviset, with which they have had concerts together for the first time in the Czech Republic and Poland in the autumn 2007 or with Manuel Alonso, excellent guitarist from Mexico. Since 2006 we have gone to many foreign music trips - Croatia, Finland, France and Slovakia.