Miroslav Srnka
Composer
Miroslav Srnka’s international breakthrough came in 2016 when his opera South Pole was premiered at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich under Kirill Petrenko, in a production by Hans Neuenfels that featured Rolando Villazón and Thomas Hampson in the title roles.
But even before that, Srnka had received several major commissions and awards, including the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Composer’s Prize in 2009. His works have been performed by renowned interpreters including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, the Czech Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, by conductors such as Peter Eötvös, Jakub Hrůša and Susanna Mälkki at festivals like Lucerne Festival, Ultraschall Berlin, Wien Modern, Présences Paris, Prague Spring, Musica Strasbourg, Milano Musica and Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo.
Srnka has collaborated for many years with the ensemble Quatuor Diotima, which has performed his quartets across Europe and issued a portrait CD with chamber music on the Naïve label.
Srnka, born in Prague in 1975, studied musicology at the Charles University and composition at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He is professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne and a sought-after juror at competitions such as the renowned Mahler Competition in Bamberg or the Mauricio Kagel Composition Competition. He is also a member of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Prague Spring Festival, where he founded and co-curates Prague Offspring, a festival which focuses on new music.
