Date
Hybrid Sessions is a monthly series at Kampus Hybernská. We feature an opening improvised duo set with two musicians coming from different backgrounds to form a new constellation. Afterwards, we host a jam session open to all musicians, regardless of background. We want to create an open environment where musicians feel free to be creative in the moment, nothing is predetermined and the only expectation is a high level of presence.
A basic backline will be provided.
This time Czech jazz legend Jiří Stivín will perform at the regular improvisational concert Hybrid Sessions together with rising vocalist Bella Adamová.
Jiří Stivín
Legendary Czech jazz musician, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in 1942 in Prague, where he originally studied cinematography at FAMU. However, he devoted his professional life primarily to music.
His musical expression is characterized by unbridled, improvisation and frequent switching between different musical styles. Together with Martin Kratochvíl he founded the ensemble Jazz Q. In 1970-73 he performed as a member, soloist and finally a conductor of the drama orchestra of the National Theatre in Prague. Later he formed the jazz group System Tandem with Rudolf Daško. In the 1980s he worked primarily as a soloist participating in many of his own and foreign musical projects. His double album Trips was listed among the most notable European jazz projects of the year in 1981. Since the 1980s, he has worked extensively with the Collegium Quodlibet ensemble to perform classical music compositions, in which he specializes in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Periodically, at the end of November, he organizes a concert in honor of St. Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.
He founded the general benefit society “Centre for Improvisation in Art” in Všenory near Prague, where improvisation weekends focused on music, art and multimedia activities are organized.
Bella Adamová
Bella Adamová, a versatile mezzo-soprano, was born in Grozny, Russia, but grew up in Prague and spent her subsequent university studies and formative years abroad.
She moves through different musical periods, genres and cultures, however the centerpiece of her artistic interest is song. Her repertoire ranges from Baroque pieces to contemporary pieces and includes German songs and Russian romances. She has performed on major stages and festivals such as Prague Spring and Heidelberger Frühling and has won many prestigious international awards. The BBC's music magazine recently hailed her as a rising star.
Bella sings and improvises in a duo with pianist Michael Gees, with whom she released their first joint album Blooming in 2019. Their second CD, There is home (2023), deals with finding a home and defining this term or feeling. This season she will sing alto solos in Mahler's 2nd Symphony with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK and Tomáš Brauner or de Fall's El amor brujo with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra and Robert Kružík. She will also appear on the opera stage, both in Carmen at Theater Bielefeld and at the National Theatre in Prague in a new production of Rusalka.
