The Janáček Academy of Performing Arts is a public art university based in Brno, founded in 1947.
The Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) is an art university based in Brno. It brings together the Faculty of Theatre and the Faculty of Music, where more than 700 students of theatre and music disciplines study [1].
History
The founding of the school was inspired by the personality of Leoš Janáček, a composer who spent most of his creative period in Brno and had himself tried in the past to establish a music academy in the Moravian metropolis [1]. His efforts were partly fulfilled by the establishment of an organ school, from which the Brno conservatory later emerged [1]. In the pre-war period conservatories and master classes were among the highest-quality artistic educational institutions [1]. The first art university in Czechoslovakia, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, was established only after 1945 [1]. Brno, as the second largest cultural and historical centre of the country, also felt the need for a similar institution, and thanks to pressure from Moravian cultural circles the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, based in Brno, was founded on 12 September 1947 [1][2]. The establishment of the school meant the culmination of Leoš Janáček's many years of efforts to create an art university in the second largest city of the republic [2].
Leadership of the school
JAMU has been headed in turn by the following rectors: Ludvík Kundera (1948–1961), František Kudláček (1961–1962 and 1969–1972), Josef Burjanek (1962–1969 and 1973–1976), František Šolc (acting rector 1972–1973, rector 1976–1987), Vladimír Hudec (1987–1990), Alena Štěpánková-Veselá (1990–1997), Alois Hajda (1997–2003), Václav Cejpek (2003–2010), Ivo Medek (2010–2018) and Petr Oslzlý (2018–2022) [2].
Operation and facilities
The academy operates in four buildings of its own and two that it does not own [1]. It has its own opera and musical theatre as well as a drama theatre, a recording studio, a library and a publishing centre [1]. Each year it organizes approximately 250 musical and more than 150 theatrical public events [1]. In recent years the school has introduced new programmes, for example in jazz, historically informed performance of early music, stage technologies, and multimedia and audiovisual specializations, thereby, in its own words, completing the range of study subjects in both art forms [1].
Activities and international events
The school has nationally and internationally recognized teachers, and dozens of foreign artists visit every year as guests, contributing to innovations in teaching [2]. Events held at both faculties contribute to the cultural life of Brno and of the South Moravian Region [2]. International resonance is enjoyed in particular by the Setkání/Encounter festival organized by the Faculty of Theatre, and by the International Interpretation Courses and the International Leoš Janáček Competition in Brno, which are organized by the Faculty of Music [2]. According to its own website, students and graduates of the school are accepted for internships at foreign schools, work in Czech theatre, audiovisual and radio production, and also find work abroad [2].
Graduates
Since its founding the school has, in its own words, trained thousands of graduates from among composers, conductors, directors, actors, singers, instrumentalists and other artistic professions [1][2].