Jump to content

Alena Veselá

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alena Veselá
Veselá in 2013
Born(1923-07-07)7 July 1923
Brno, Czechoslovakia
Died11 May 2025(2025-05-11) (aged 101)
Brno, Czech Republic
Occupations
  • Organist
  • academic teacher
OrganizationsJanáček Academy of Performing Arts
AwardsMedal of Merit

Alena Veselá (married name Štěpánková;[1] 7 July 1923 – 11 May 2025) was a Czech organist and academic music teacher, rector of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno from 1990 to 1997. She played concerts internationally.

Life and career

[edit]

Veselá was born in Brno on 7 July 1923. Her parents were Vítězslav Veselý, a professor of chemistry and his wife Helena; she grew up with a brother, Karel.[2] Her first piano teacher was Zdeňka Illnerová.[3] Veselá studied organ at the Brno Conservatoire during World War II.[2] She studied further at the newly established Brno Janáček Academy of Music (JAMU) from 1947.[2][4] She studied musicology at the Masaryk University in Brno.[5]

From 1952, she worked for almost fifty years at the Academy[1][2] where she was the head of the department of keyboard instruments from 1986 to 1990[6][7] and rector from 1990 to 1997.[2][6][7] She was the first rector after the Soviet period,[2] and the only woman on the post in the academy's history. She pursued a historically informed interpretation of early organ music.[7] Among her students were Věra Heřmanová [cs], Kamila Klugarová [cs], Petr Kolař, Zdeněk Nováček, and David Postránecký.[7][8] She was responsible for expanding buildings of the JAMU and took care of its organ.[9] She was awarded the Medal of Merit in the field of arts and education in 2020,[2][6] but a ceremony with the President could be held only in 2022.[6]

Veselá gave concerts in Czechoslovakia and abroad,[7] in Europe and the United States.[3] She was permitted to travel, although she was no member of the Communist Party.[2] She managed to discover organ compositions by Czech composers in European archives.[10] She recorded organ music by Czech composers, both historic such as František Brixi and Jiří Ignác Linek and contemporary including Petr Eben.[5] She played a suite by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault in a concert of the 42nd Brno Organ Festival on her 99th birthday.[7]

She was the chairwoman of the association for the construction of a new concert hall in Brno and participated in the organization of the Brno International Music Festival.[3][9] She played a significant role in completing the reconstruction of the Besední Dom, the seat of the Brno Philharmonic,[3] and took care of its organ.[9] In 2025 she was present, when the cornerstone of a new concert hall was laid.[11]

Personal life and death

[edit]

Veselá was active in sports as a girl, winning a regional slalom and achieving level 5 of 6 in mounting climbing in the High Tatras.[9] She married Mirek Štěpánek in 1954; they had a daughter, Helena, and lived in Brno.[2]

Veselá died on 11 May 2025, at the age of 101.[1][2][3][11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Schneibergová, Martina (12 May 2025). "Organistin Alena Štěpánková Veselá im Alter von 101 Jahren gestorben". Radio Prague (in German). Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Professor Alena Štěpánková Veselá". Memory of Nations. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Ve 101 letech zemřela známá česká varhanice. Od Miloše Zemana dostala medaili za zásluhy". CNN Prima News (in Czech). Prima F. T. V. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  4. ^ "Digitální knihovna Kramerius". Digitální knihovna. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Alena Veselá". Grand Orgues des Chartres. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d Mareček, Luboš (7 March 2022). "Emeritní rektorka JAMU prof. MgA. Alena Štěpánková Veselá osobně převzala medaili Za zásluhy". Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (in Czech). Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Alena Veselá oslavila 99. narozeniny u varhan". klasikaplus.cz (in Czech). 10 July 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  8. ^ Fifield, Christopher (22 November 2017). Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-12572-7.
  9. ^ a b c d Hofmannová, Karla (July 2023). "Brněnská legenda profesorka Alena Veselá slaví 100 let". Brno Zurnal (in Czech). Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  10. ^ Československý biografický slovník: A - Ž (in Czech) (1st ed.). Prague: Encyklopedický institut ČSAV. 1992. ISBN 978-80-200-0443-7.
  11. ^ a b Horáková, Lenka (12 May 2025). "Ve 101 letech zemřela varhanice Alena Štěpánková Veselá, bojovnice za stavbu koncertního sálu v Brně". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 May 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alena_Veselá&oldid=1298040191"