The time capsule in the concert hall foundations contains the signatures of major figures, tertiary soil and a composition from a conservatoire student honouring Leoš Janáček
Brno, 12 May 2017
Brno city and cultural representatives and the media today laid a capsule in the foundations of the future concert hall with a message for future generations. The metal tube was inserted into a special cavity within the wall under Hotel Slavia on Besední street at a site where the city’s 13th century walls have been preserved. The capsule contains documents and other items relating to the past and future of the venue and project.
The first person to place a document into the capsule was Mayor of Brno, Petr Vokřál, placing in it the declaration of a Concert Hall for Brno of 8 August 2014 with the signatures of three dozen major figures from culture nationwide. “These are the names of those who have supported this project. This issue remains current for us; we are still negotiating the joint funding of the building,” states Vokřál. His deputy, Matěj Hollan, placed a copy of an invitation to the premiere of Glagolitic Mass which took place in the Brno Stadium hall on 5 December 1927. Director of Brno Philharmonic, Marie Kučerová, added a catalogue for the upcoming 62nd season, the Chairwoman of the Association for the Construction of a Concert Hall in Brno, Alena Štěpánková-Veselá added a copy of the minutes of her association’s constituent meeting on 26 February 1992.
OHL-ŽS Chief Executive Office, Petr Brzezina, put a handful of tertiary soil he found on site into the tube, and Operational Director of Brněnské komunikace, Leoš Chasák, put in a current photograph of the building site. “Construction is continuing in accordance with the plan. The foundation slab has been concreted, workers have already built part of the ceiling for the third basement storey. They will now be continuing their work on the vertical and horizontal structures,” says Chasák. Editor in Chief of Brno daily paper Rovnost, Michal Kárný, inserted a copy of his paper from last September which includes a call for suggestions for what to put in the capsule. Editor in Chief of MF Dnes Brno added a copy of that day’s edition of the paper in which a message to future generations is printed.
There was a world premiere played of a composition honouring Leoš Janáček. This was composed by Brno conservatoire student, Jiří Dvořák. “I read in the newspaper that the public could suggest what to put in the capsule, so I thought I would write a composition especially for the occasion for a solo bassoon. I’m pleased it’s going into the capsule; it is in a way an example of contemporary youth creation,” says Dvořák, adding he would be happy if his school got a new concert hall. “The environment shapes the personality of young people,” he continues.
Besides negotiations on funding the building, selection of a designer for the building’s above ground section is currently under way, i.e. a team comprising an acoustics expert, architect and designer. “Two cutting edge international teams have qualified for the final round. Their first task will be a project to bring together the underground and over-ground parts of the building,” says Deputy Mayor Hollan of the current situation.
Contact for the media:
Kateřina Konečná – PR Manager, Hall for Brno, 775 426 040, konecna@salprobrno.cz, www.salprobrno.cz
About Hall for Brno
Sál pro Brno/Hall for Brno (Janáček Cultural Centre) is a project aiming to ensure construction of a new concert hall for Brno. It will be home for the Brno Philharmonic, an orchestra of over a hundred members which plays and practises in unsuitable conditions. The whole orchestra does not fit on the Besední dům stage where the Philharmonic is based. And Janáček Theatre, where they often hold concerts, has poor acoustics. As such, the audience doesn’t actually know how Brno Philharmonic sound. “Thanks to this new hall, the orchestra’s quality will finally find appreciation and I trust that Brno will also attract cutting edge international artists whom we currently have nowhere to invite to,” says Director of Brno Philharmonic, Marie Kučerová.
The new hall will be erected on the corner of Besední and Veselá streets. It will have a capacity of over 1200 seats and acoustic parameters of the highest global calibre. Total costs are expected to reach 1.276 billion crowns. The city aims to begin construction next year so it follows on as smoothly as possible from the first phase, i.e. the construction of underground garages.