Collegium Vocale 1704

The Prague Baroque orchestra and vocal ensemble COLLEGIUM 1704 and COLLEGIUM VOCALE 1704 were founded by the harpsichordist and conductor Václav Luks in 2005. Since their huge success in France with Jan Dismás Zelenka’s Missa votiva in 2007, Collegium 1704 has been a regular guest at festivals around Europe, performing core Baroque repertoire and promoting the work of Czech masters like Jan Dismás Zelenka and Josef Myslivecˇek. In 2008, it launched the Prague-Dresden Musical Bridge concert series. Collaboration with renowned soloists Magdalena Kozˇená, Vivica Genaux and Bejun Mehta led to a second concert series at the Rudolfinum— Dvorˇák Hall in Prague.
In 2015, the two concert series merged into one season, held in Prague and Dresden. Collegium 1704’s international successes have included Handel’s opera Rinaldo (dir. Louise Moaty) and Myslivecˇek’s opera L’Olimpiade (dir. Ursel Herrmann), nominated for the International Opera Awards. Recent and upcoming concert appearances include the Salzburger Festspiele, Berliner Philharmonie, Theater an der Wien, Konzerthaus Wien, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, Versailles, Lucerner Festival and, as residential ensemble, the prestigious Oude Muziek Utrecht and Bachfest Leipzig. In 2014, Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks collaborated with Bejun Mehta on a DVD of Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice and a BBC 2 documentary Mozart in Prague. Its recordings, popular with audiences and critics alike (including a Diapason d’Or and a Gramophone Award nomination), have included J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor and the world premiere recording of Zelenka’s Missa Divi Xaverii. Since 2014, the ensemble has participated regularly in the ‘Chopin and his Europe’ festival organised by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.