News

The 10th anniversary edition of the Janáček Brno 2026 International Festival is in full swing, and we are delighted to present this year’s official merchandise collection!

We are thrilled to share the news! The Janáček Opera NdB production of Janáček’s Katya Kabanova has achieved extraordinary success in the newly announced Thalia Award nominations.

Behind the scenes of the festival, a unique perspective on Janáček’s work, and fascinating discussions about music. The 5th episode of our festival podcast is out now, featuring internationally renowned conductor and founder of Collegium 1704, Václav Luks.

We are delighted to announce a truly special concert evening added to the programme of the 10th Janáček Brno Festival 2026. A living legend of the Czech opera and song scene, bass Richard Novák, will celebrate his remarkable 95th birthday right on stage.

An extraordinary concert by the Czech Philharmonic at the Janáček Brno Festival 2026 will offer a truly exceptional and sonically authentic experience. In the iconic brass fanfare of Janáček’s Sinfonietta, musicians from the Central Band of the Czech Army will join the orchestra under the baton of conductor Vasily Petrenko.

Experience the birth of Leoš Janáček’s opera creation up close! As part of the celebrations for the 10th edition of the Janáček Brno festival, we invite you to the public piano dress rehearsal of the original 1887 version of the opera Šárka for a symbolic 10 CZK. On 28 August, enjoy a unique site-specific production by director Jiří Heřman and world-renowned pianist Julius Drake in the unrepeatable atmosphere of Brno’s Besední dům.

Instead of a standard programme brochure, we decided to celebrate our milestone anniversary with something truly special. We are proud to present our new festival magazine. With over 80 pages, it is the richest and most detailed guide we have ever published!

Festival backstage insights, a fateful connection with the Maestro’s legacy, and a glimpse into an intense professional and personal life. The 4th episode of our festival podcast is out now, featuring a guest without whom the Janáček tradition in Brno would simply not be complete – Šárka Zahrádková.

A special birthday promotion celebrating Janáček’s 172nd birthday and the centenary of his Sinfonietta.

Celebrate Janáček’s 172nd birthday with us on June 23rd at the piazzetta in front of the Janáček Theatre. Free Entry!

In the third episode of our podcast, we introduce director Marek Řihák, who is currently preparing a production of The Beginning of a Romance, a co-production between Hausopera and the Janáček Opera of the National Theatre Brno (premiering November 3, 2026). What was his path to directing, and what does the search for modern expression in a classic work mean to him? Join us for a glimpse into the world of the rising artistic generation. You will discover how the courage to experiment is found today and why Janáček remains so relevant! Hosted by Tomáš Etzler.

As part of our international cooperation, we are delighted to offer our audience a unique opportunity to experience world-class opera in the spectacular setting of the Austrian festival Oper Burg Gars. Spend your summer evenings surrounded by first-rate artistry in the romantic atmosphere of the Gars am Kamp castle ruins.

Our very first international journey ended in absolute triumph. Three concerts, three capacity crowds, and endless applause. We are thrilled to have shared our Brno operatic passion with an international audience that welcomed us with incredible energy.

How is a world-class conductor born? What milestones must an artist pass to stand at the helm of the world’s finest orchestras? The second episode of our podcast series with Tomáš Etzler takes us into the fascinating world of conducting. We are joined in the studio by one of the most respected Czech conductors of our time and a renowned expert on Janáček’s work, Tomáš Hanus.

For the first time, our Janáček Brno festival is crossing the borders of the Czech Republic to take its message to the world! Before Brno resonates with the complete cycle of Leoš Janáček’s operas this October and November, we are bringing a taste of the festival atmosphere to two of Europe’s major capitals.

How did a festival in Brno become a global event attracting audiences from all over the world? That is exactly the topic of the opening episode of our new podcast series with journalist Tomáš Etzler. He invited the most qualified guests to the studio: Martin Glaser, General Director of the National Theatre Brno, and Jiří Heřman, Artistic Director of the Opera.

As part of the accompanying program of the Janáček Brno 2026 festival, the jubilee 60th International Musicological Colloquium will take place from November 9–11, 2026. Organized by the Institute of Musicology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, this year’s professional gathering will focus on the phenomenon of folk music and its transformations within academic discourse and broader social contexts.

The Janáček Brno 2026 Festival will not only be marked by premieres and anticipated guests but also by emotional farewells. Prepare for four evenings full of intensity, as the current productions of four pivotal Janáček works will take their final bows. These opera DERNIÈRES will be a truly unforgettable experience!

The Janáček Brno 2024 Festival, the fresh recipient of the prestigious International Opera Award for Best Festival of the Year, is now featured in a documentary available on Czech Television’s iVysílání. Discover this exceptional edition, which once again confirmed Janáček Brno’s position among the world’s most important opera festivals.

The 10th anniversary edition of the Janáček Brno 2026 festival has officially launched its ticket sales! Under the motto “Roots”, the festival will present an exceptionally ambitious programme featuring the complete operatic works of Leoš Janáček – from his early compositions to his mature masterpieces. Such a comprehensive presentation of Janáček’s legacy is unique on a global scale and confirms the festival’s outstanding position among international music events.

The Janáček Brno 2026 festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary edition, taking us back to the roots. Brno will once again immerse itself in the world of Leoš Janáček, his music and inspirations – and all nine of his operas will be performed during the festival. If you don’t want to wait a whole year, join us at one of our preview events!

The international Janáček Brno Festival has received two nominations for the prestigious International Opera Awards 2025 – in the categories Festival and New Production for the staging of The Excursions of Mr. Brouček directed by Robert Carsen, presented by the National Theatre Brno in co-production with Teatro Real, Madrid, and Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin.

The new production of Dvořák’s Rusalka by Janáček Opera NdB — directed by David Radok and conducted by Marko Ivanović — will be available online on the OperaVision platform until 6 March 2026. Don’t miss this unique experience from the comfort of your home.

A unique musical evening with violinist Josef Špaček and pianist Miroslav Sekera is approaching! Just a few tickets remain – don’t miss the opening of the jubilee 10th edition of the Janáček Brno Festival and join us as we take our place at the starting line.

This production breathes new life into one of Janáček’s most intimate works through visual poetry and a profoundly human directorial vision. Don’t miss the return of Katya Kabanova – a past highlight of the Janáček Brno festival.

Celebrate with a special birthday offer on all preview performances of the Janáček Brno 2026 festival.

The Janáček Brno Festival will present one of the most anticipated operatic events of autumn 2025: Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa, featuring Kateřina Kněžíková in the title role – as a preview event for Janáček Brno 2026.

Our production of Leoš Janáček’s opera The Excursions of Mr. Brouček found its way to audiences far beyond the Czech Republic, thanks to our collaboration with the international platform OperaVision. The recording was available online for six months, during which it was viewed by more than 24,000 people from all around the world.

Join us in celebrating Leoš Janáček’s 171st birthday in a truly special way – under the open sky and with music that moves and enchants. As part of the birthday programme, we will present a large-scale screening of Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen, recorded at the renowned Glyndebourne Festival.

Visual identity for Janáček Brno 2026 will be created by award-winning illustrator Michal Bačák. The design will be revealed at the JANÁČEK AT THE START! concert on 31 October.

What await visitors to the Janáček Brno 2026 festival? We will be revealing all this on 31 October 2025 at a gala concert to be held at the Mahen Theatre.

Janáček Brno 2026 is to be a jubilee festival, as this will be the tenth time that Brno has immersed itself over the course of a number of weeks in Janáček’s music, his inspirations, his life story and the influence he had on his contemporaries and those who came after him. This time, the festival motto is to be ROOTS, because what we grow from influences each and every one of us. In the work of artists, no matter whether they are composers, visual artists or performers, their roots are reflected throughout their lives; they may be more evident at some times, less so at others, but they never disappear. In the festival’s jubilee year we would, for this reason, like to show what Janáček’s work is rooted in, what it grew from, and how far it progressed.

The Janáček Brno 2026 Festival, which is to take place from 13 October to 17 November 2026, is to be something of a jubilee, as we will be coming together for the tenth time. The entire city of Brno will once again be immersing itself for several weeks in Janáček’s music, inspirations and destinies in life and the influence he had on his contemporaries and those who followed him. This jubilee is to be unique in many ways, though the focal point of the festival is to be the performance of all nine of Janáček’s operas, which are to be heard together in the Moravian metropolis for the first time since 2004.