Performers

Professor of Neurology and since 2019 Rector of Masaryk University, where he has been working for a long time. Upon his arrival, he defined the topic of the social application of the university as one of the most important in his mandate. His research specializes in movement disorders, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, essential tremor and spasticity. He has worked with the University of Minnesota for over twenty years.

D. degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University, where she currently holds the Chair of International Relations and European Studies. Her research focuses mainly on the issues of domestic armed conflicts, transatlantic relations, NATO enlargement and international security. As a project assistant, she is involved in the Armed Conflict in Post-Cold War International Relations grant. She is a member of the implementation team in the specific research of the Department of International Relations and European Studies.

Professor of General History at the Institute of History, Faculty of Arts, MU, focuses on ecclesiastical and cultural history of the 19th and 20th centuries. His current research focuses on the roots of modern European culture and education in historical, philosophical and anthropological perspectives. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Brno journal Kontexty and currently holds the position of Vice-Rector of MU.

Czech historian of cultural, intellectual and religious history (not only) of the Middle Ages and early modern period, philosopher, editor and publicist. He worked at the Historical Institute of the CAS, later he held the office of Vice-Dean at the Hussite Theological Faculty of Charles University and the position of Head of the Department of History and Christian Culture. He founded and heads Collegium Europaeum – Research Group for the History of European Thought at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University & the Faculty of Arts of the CAS in Prague, was elected as a Fellow of the Centre for Medieval Studies of the CAS and the Charles University, is also the President of the Luther Society and since 2023 the Director of the Research and Education Department at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. Among other things, he deals with the issues of national messianism and European identity.

Czech political scientist, professor at the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University in Brno, editor-in-chief of the online journal Central European Political Studies, vice-chairman of the Czech Society for Political Science and member of the legal sciences and political science panel of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic. His research interests include the theory of non-democratic and hybrid regimes, the transformation and consolidation of post-communist political regimes, especially Russia and the post-Soviet republics, the status of political science as an academic discipline, and modern Czech politics.

She was born in Prague and is the daughter of writer Arnošt Lustig. At the age of 12, she emigrated to Israel with her family, and in 1970 they moved to the United States, where she lived until 1991. She then accepted an offer to work for the United Nations in Geneva. She worked in the global AIDS program and later in the gender equality department. In recent years, she has devoted herself to caring for her father's legacy, and is co-founder and chair of the board of the Arnošt Lustig Foundation.

Josef Pazderka graduated in history from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague and also studied development studies at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, UK. After graduation he worked for the humanitarian organisation People in Need. Since 2005, he has worked in the foreign desk of Czech Television, among others as a permanent correspondent in Moscow, Warsaw and Ukraine. Since 2016, he has been deputy editor-in-chief of the online daily Aktuálně.cz. In 2018–2022, he headed this news website. He is the recipient of four journalism awards. Since October 2022, he has held the position of editor-in-chief at Czech Radio Plus.

Czech writer, journalist, Hispanist, author of literature for adults and children. She has won the Golden Ribbon, the SUK Children's Heart Award and the beProud Award for her books. She has been nominated three times for the Magnesia Litera Award and the Josef Škvorecký Award. Two of her children's books have been included in the prestigious international catalogue The White Raven and in the Czech catalogue Best Children's Books. She has translated from Spanish and Portuguese. Her novels have been translated into twelve world languages. When she is not writing books, she reads from them to Czech and international readers in libraries, schools and at festivals.

Passionate researcher in the field of musicology. He is a professor at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University, specifically at the Institute of Musicology. He holds the position of professor, is deputy head of the institute and devotes himself to teaching and scientific research. His specialty is music theory and aesthetics, and his professional contribution is appreciated not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad.

One of the leading Czech pianists of the younger generation. His instrumental dexterity and unusual musical expressiveness are remarkable. He graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and subsequently from the Edsberg Institute of Music under the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, under the guidance of Professor Mats Widlund. He has received numerous awards, and in addition to solo performances, he regularly gives chamber music concerts and is a member of the international chamber ensemble Ensemble D'Accord and the Lieder Society. He collaborates with Czech Radio, teaches at masterclasses and since 2016 at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. He is the organist of the pilgrimage church of the Name of the Virgin Mary in Křtiny.

Writer, poet, prose writer, film critic and essayist, was born on 6 June 1936 in Znojmo (he belongs to the so-called Thirty-Six Generation, together with Václav Havel, Jiří Kuběna, Viola Fischerová and other personalities). He has lived in Brno since 1938. In 1958, his diploma thesis was not accepted, and he graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Brno without a diploma. In the 1960s he regularly published film reviews in the daily Rovnost and worked as an editor for the magazines Tvář and Host do domu. After 1969 he lost the possibility of official publishing. During the normalisation period, he changed a number of working-class jobs (he was a warehouse worker, a warehouse manager, a dispatcher, and also a cinema manager). After 1989, he worked again as an editor and began publishing his books. From 1990 he taught at the Theatre Faculty of the JAMU in Brno, and was appointed professor. He contributes to various periodicals (Listy, Host, Proglas, Kontexty). For his literary work and his firm civic stance he received the Brno City Prize. His books The Memory of an Essayist, The Eternal Lack of Eternity, and On the Intellectual Who Does Not Feel Well present works that show the strengths and weaknesses of Czech intellectual and literary life in a Scrutonian anti-utopian spirit.

Czech soprano specialising in early music. Born in České Budějovice, she studied musicology at Charles University and singing with Terezie Blumová in Prague and later with M. Corelli in Berlin. Her repertoire includes a wide range of works from Baroque masters to Romantic operas. Her passion for music and her ability to convey emotion through her voice make her a major figure in the field of opera. Her voice and interpretations are an inspiration to many music enthusiasts and opera lovers around the world.