Throughout September, I’ll be introducing you to several women composers of classical music through my own recordings. I’ll probably be biting my nails, standing on my head, pacing the room, and breathing through it while listening to myself. But you’ll hear some amazing music — and together, we’ll be supporting a fairer society — in both politics and the arts.
For several years now, I’ve been systematically focusing on interpreting works by women composers of classical music who, despite the quality of their work, are often overlooked by the canon. Whenever I can, I include their music in concert programs and love performing it myself. This often means hours and hours of research, transcribing unpublished scores from archival manuscripts, and persuading people in the right places that this music is worth it. But to me, it is worth it. :-)
In the coming month, I’d like to introduce you to several inspiring female creators — some of whom changed the course of music history, and some you may never have heard of (so far). Women composers are, in a way, Heroines — often having had to fight (and still fighting) for their place in the world, facing rejection, rude remarks, ridicule, and being forgotten. And yet, they created and still create, and their music continues to speak — both into the public space and into the hearts of listeners.
This campaign is a donation challenge — I’d be grateful if you supported Forum 50% with any amount, even the smallest contribution makes a difference. At the same time, it’s also a personal challenge for me: I hate listening to my own recordings. Maybe you know the feeling. It makes my toes curl. I just want to leave the room. I procrastinate, I prefer to forget, and in the end, I never share those recordings publicly. Bringing art into the public space is deeply personal and vulnerable — but it’s also political, and therefore important. Through this challenge, I’m pushing myself to face my own reflection in the mirror. :-)
You can find the recordings on my Facebook and Instagram, here in the News section, and the full version on YouTube.
What Forum 50% Does Forum 50% is a nonprofit organization that promotes gender balance in politics and decision-making positions. Although women make up more than 50% of the population, their representation in politics averages only about 20% in the Czech Republic, and even less in leadership roles. We want decision-making processes to be more balanced — to include not just the perspectives and life experiences of men, but also those of women. Learn more at: https://padesatprocent.cz/
Thanks to your support, Forum 50% will be able to: - Provide education, mentoring, inspiration, and peer exchange for more than 150 women each year through 12 workshops and networking events across the Czech Republic
- Continue monitoring the occurrence of gender-based violence — particularly the online harassment experienced by female politicians and publicly active women
- Organize the second edition of the Inspirational Woman Award in 2026, which recognizes women in the Czech Republic whose work is worthy of recognition and emulation How Can You Get Involved? - Donate to support the organization on Darujme - Seek out, listen to, and be inspired by the music of women composers
- Share, play, and spread their music out into the world
- Oh — and vote for women, of course.
Today, I'm catching up on the challenge for Forum 50%#SupportHeroines, where I share recordings of female classical music composers, bite my nails, and contribute to a good cause!
You know Sláva Vorlová from last year's Year of Czech Music. At a concert in New York, we played her Stesk (Longing) with Vojtěch Červenka, from which this excerpt is from the song Jaro (Spring).
Vorlová wrote Stesk after witnessing the execution of her husband at the end of the Prague Uprising, just a short distance from their villa in Barrandov. All the experiences of that period are reflected in the delicate yet immensely powerful music. She set to music the poems of Olga Scheinpflugová, who lost her life partner Karel Čapek shortly before the outbreak of war. The song cycle is dedicated to him.
The second example is Sláva Vorlová's Brief Reflection on Laughter, a late work that the composer did not live to see premiered, but which all the more testifies to her great lightness of spirit and perspective. She set three poems from Miroslav Holub's famous cycle to music. The music is witty, but also bitingly sarcastic, just like the lyrics.
This is how we performed it with Tamara Morozova and Vojta Červenka last year in New York. You can find both cycles and even more great music on our 2CD Sláva Vorlová: Songs, in which we, together with the Lieder Society, rediscovered Sláva Vorlová's songs for Czech classical music: https://eshop.lieder-society.cz/slava-vorlova-pisne/
#SupportTheHeroines for @Forum 50%
Kateřina Horká: Vyrovnání (Reconciliation)
I'll start with a friend ❤️ Katka wrote this song cycle specially for us at the end of 2023. She set to music three poems by Olga Scheinpflugová. We premiered it with @Vojta Cervenka at a music-literary evening about Karel Čapek and Olga Scheinpflugová at the cubist Grand Café Orient. This particular recording is from the Bohemian National Hall in New York, where we brought a program of songs by Czech women composers last year with @Lieder Society. And I love it — it just speaks to me. I listen to the little imperfections in the recording with grace — at that moment, we were deep in jet lag, and it was around 1:30 AM our biological time. We're kind of badass.
Kateřina Horká studied composition under Antonín Bílý and Juraj Filas, and has already composed over 150 works across a wide range of genres. Her music has been performed in the USA, UK, Austria, Lithuania, and here in Czechia — for example, by the PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Hradec Králové Philharmonic, The Band of the Castle Guards, Prague Chamber Soloists, Mucha Trio, and others.
In the comments, you’ll also find interviews with Katka and two playlists featuring her chamber and orchestral works. Listen, and share them with the world.
As part of the #SupportTheHeroines challenge, I’m sharing recordings by women composers of classical music for a month. You can support the challenge at https://www.darujme.cz/vyzva/1205040 ❤️
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Fórum 50 %, o.p.s.
Podpořte ženy, které mění svět kolem sebe, veřejně se angažují a často místo uznání čelí nenávisti. Podpořte práci Fóra 50 % na vytváření bezpečnějšího prostoru, vzdělávání a propojování těch, které se nebojí být slyšet. Pomozte nám posilovat ženské hlasy tam, kde jsou nejvíce potřeba.
Veřejně se angažovat pro nějakou věc je těžké pro každého. Fórum 50 % podporuje ženy, které se veřejně angažují. Ze zkušenosti víme, že jsou vystaveny nenávistným komentářům, jež útočí více na jejich vzhled a sexualitu, než na způsob jejich práce a myšlenky, které prosazují. Je to zraňující a často to vede k frustraci a vyhoření. Proto vytváříme pro ženy bezpečný prostor, kde mohou své zkušenosti sdílet. Proto je vzděláváme v komunikačních dovednostech a v rozpoznávání nezdravých vzorců chování.
Díky vašemu daru budeme moci pokračovat v komplexnější péči o tyto obdivuhodně ženy. Přáli bychom si žít ve světě, kde nebudete muset ani vy číst nenávistné komentáře útočící třeba na vaši sestru nebo dceru, pokud se rozhodne ve svém okolí prosadit nějakou důležitou změnu. Prozatím ale můžeme nabídnout alespoň pocit, že na to není sama, důležitou podporu a možnost propojení s dalšími hrdinkami.
Abychom mohli v naší činnosti dlouhodobě pokračovat a rozvíjet ji, potřebujeme se opřít o stabilnější a předvídatelné financování.
Díky vaší pravidelné podpoře:
poskytneme každý rok vzdělávání, mentoring, motivaci a výměnu zkušeností více než 150 ženám, a to díky 12 workshopům a síťovacím setkáním po celé republice
budeme i nadále mapovat výskyt genderově podmíněného násilí, které zažívají zejména na sociálních sítích političky a veřejně aktivní ženy
v roce 2026 uspořádáme již druhý ročník soutěže Inspirativní žena, díky níž jsou oceněny následováníhodné ženy působící v České republice.
Držím palce.
Hodně štěstí, Alena K