On Tuesday, May 17, 2011, we have celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Fulbright Commission in the Czech Republic with the gala concert and the reception with many distinguished Fulbright alumni and friends in the residence of the U.S. Ambassador Eisen in Prague.
Fulbright alumni Kateřina Englichová (harp) and Mark Ludwig (violin) performed several classical pieces, including Gideon Klein's Lullaby composed in Terezín in 1943.
One of the most sought after Czech harpists of her generation, Kateřina Englichova performs all over the world. She studied at the Prague Conservatoire and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, (Fulbright Student Scholarship in 1989). She has collaborated with artists such as Mstislav Rostropovitch, Josef Suk, and others, and with many ensembles. She has performed at numerous international festivals such as Tanglewood, the Tucson Music Festival, Music by the Red Sea in Israel, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, and at Prague Spring Festival. Katerina Englichova often initiates new works by contemporary composers such as Zdenek Lukas, Eric Sessler, Lubos Sluka, Jindrich Feld, Sylvie Bodorova. She recorded (among others) an entire CD of compositions with Harp written by the renowned Czech composer Petr Eben. She has been heard as a soloist or chamber musician on more than 30 discs.
Mark Ludwig shares a deep bond with the Czech Republic spanning over twenty years. A 1995 Fulbright scholar in the Czech Republic, Mark Ludwig has been a leading figure in championing Entartete musik, with a particular emphasis on the Terezín composers. He written and lectured extensively on the music of Terezín and was the recipient of an NEA grant to create a national Holocaust curriculum for mid to senior high school level students. He is the founding director of the Terezín Music Foundation (TMF), dedicated to preserving and advancing the resilience of the human spirit as expressed in and inspired by the music created in Terezin. As director, he sponsors the commission of chamber music compositions by emerging contemporary composers. He is most proud of the collaboration between the Prague Spring Festival and TMF that has established the annual Terezín Legacy Commission prize & concert. An accomplished chamber musician and founding member of the Hawthorne String Quartet, Mark Ludwig has collaborated with Gerrick Ohlsson, André Previn, Marta Argerich, Sir Simon Rattle, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lukas Foss, Ned Rorem, Leonard Bernstein, Truls Mork, André Watts, Christopher Hogwood and, Yefim Bronfman. Mark Ludwig blends his musical career with social causes having a particular emphasis on issues of intolerance. He has participated in cultural projects to benefit causes in Bosnia, Rwanda, Dafur, and Tibet. Recently, he gave a solo performance for the Dalai Lama at the United States Capitol in a ceremony awarding His Holiness the Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize.
In 1991, the J. William Fulbright Commission, established by an agreement between the Czechoslovakia and the United States of America, started to administer the Fulbright Program. Between years 1992 and 2011 the Fulbright Commission supported 650 Czech grantees and 550 U.S. grantees. Apart from that, the Commission provided over 200 travel grants.
