Jana Sýkorová

This alto singer born in Karlovy Vary studied singing at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Prof. Brigita Šulcová. She won a number of awards at singing competitions, including the first prize in the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary in the junior category (1997) and the prestigious European Prize Förderpreis für junge Künstler awarded to selected young artists from all over the world (1998). Already during her studies she debuted on both Prague opera stages, that is, at the Prague State Opera and at the National Theatre. Since 1998 she was a member of the opera of the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, since 1999/2000 she is a soloist of the Prague State Opera. Jana has been a regular guest of the National Theatre Opera since the 2002/2003 season. She regularly performs there in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, Káča in Dvořák's The Devil and Kate (Čert a Káča), and also as Panna Róza in Smetana's Secret. Her repertoire includes the roles of Fenena, Ulrika, Maddalena, Suzuki, Cherubina, Olga, Baba Yaga and others. In the world premiere she performed the title role of Faidra in the eponymous opera by Emil Viklický, the role of Death in his work Oráč a smrt (The Ploughman and Death) and, in the opera of the contemporary French composer Laurent Petitgirard, the role of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man which earned her the European Criticism Award as well as a DVD subsequently released on the Marco Polo label. Jana also appeared as a guest abroad in the role of Grimgerde in Wagner's Valkyrie in the Austrian town of Wells, as Death in Berlin, as the Elephant Man, and as Maddalena in Nice, France. In 2007, she debuted in the role of Maddalena on the London Royal Covent Garden stage, and in 2008 she performed there for the second time, this time as Mercedes in Carmen. Jana Sýkorová participated in the recording of Dvořák's Stubborn Lovers (Tvrdé palice) under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek, for the Supraphon label. She sang and recorded a number of oratories (e.g. Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Massenet’s Marie-Magdeleine) and song cycles of contemporary Czech composers (Lukáš, Eben, Neumann) for the Czech Radio. She has performed concerts in France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia, and Japan. In Paris she performed in the world premiere of Petitgirard's song cycle Le Fou d'Elsa, and in Glasgow Martinů’s song cycle Nipponari. Hana regularly collaborates with our country's leading orchestras. As a soloist of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, she performed in the Tokyo Suntory Hall, and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) in Rome. She has collaborated with the conductors B. Gregor, M. Stringer, R. Palumb, M. Guidarini, D. Oren and others.