The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ( cs, Akademie múzických umění v Praze, AMU) is a university in the centre of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, specialising in the study of music, dance, drama, film, television and multi-media. It is the largest art school in the Czech Republic, with more than 350 educators and researchers, and 1500 students.
The academy consists of three faculties: a
Film and TV School (FAMU); Music and Dance Faculty (HAMU); and
Theatre Faculty (DAMU), offering Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral level courses, as well as conducting artistic research, and in some departments also research in art history and theory. AMU has two cross-faculty pedagogical facilities: a Languages Centre and a Sports, Rehabilitation and Movement Centre. The university also has two facilities outside Prague designed for residential multi-day creative projects.
History
The Academy of Performing Arts was founded by a Presidential Decree of 27 October 1945, and opened to students the next year, in the winter semester of 1946. The establishment of the school was initiated by a group of artists and writers, including
Jindřich Honzl
Jindřich Honzl (14 May 1894 – 20 April 1953) was a Czech theatre theorist, film and theatre director and pedagogue who was a leading representative of Czech modern theater.
Biography
Honzl was born on May 14, 1894, in Humpolec in the family ...
, , and , during World War II. Professors of the older
Prague Conservatory also supported the idea of transforming the former maestro school into a university. Writers, artists and other film-makers with practical experience in the film industry, including
Jaroslav Bouček,
Karel Plicka
Karel Plicka (in Slovak: Karol Plicka) (14 October 1894 6 May 1987) was a Czechoslovak photographer, film director, cinematographer, folklorist, and pedagogue. He is considered a founder of Slovak film education and filmmaking. He helped establ ...
,
Otakar Vávra,
Ivan Olbracht
Ivan Olbracht, born Kamil Zeman (6 January 1882, Semily, Bohemia – 20 December 1952, Prague) was a Czech writer, journalist and translator of German prose.
Biography
The son of writer Antal Stašek and his Jewish-born Catholic convert wife K ...
,
Vítězslav Nezval, and , contributed to the school’s future curriculum, designing it to reflect new trends in post-war film development. Later the Film Studio and the DISK theatre, belonging to the Theatre Faculty, were added. The Opera Studio of the Music Faculty also uses the DISK theatre. When the medium of television emerged, the Film and TV School began offering study programmes for TV specialists. It also has a department with a still photography curriculum.
Faculties
The Academy of Performing Arts consists of a
Film and TV School (FAMU), Music and Dance Faculty,
Theatre Faculty, and a rector’s office. Besides the DISK theatre and Film Studio, the Academy's teaching facilities include sound and photography studios, laboratories, workshops, dancing and training halls. The
Lichtenštejn Palace, renovated in 1991, contains a grand concert hall dedicated to the Czech composer
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He be ...
and the Inspirace theatre.
The Academy owns out-of-town practice and teaching centres in
Poněšice and
Beroun
Beroun (; german: Beraun) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the Berounka and Litavka rivers. Beroun creates a conurbation with Králův Dvůr, former p ...
. The Study and Training Centre in Poněšice, South Bohemia, is situated on the
River Vltava River, and is used for special training programmes, sports and language courses for students and other users. The Study, Training and Accommodation Centre in Beroun, 30 kilometres west of Prague, is used for training and study activities and workshops for DAMU, HAMU, FAMU and Studio FAMU.
Theatre Faculty (DAMU)
The
Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU) was established in 1945 as part of the newly created arts university. Teachers at the faculty have included prominent personalities of
modern Czech theatre including
Otomar Krejča
Otomar Krejča (23 November 1921 – 6 November 2009) was a Czech theatre director and dissident.
Krejča was born in Skrýšov (now part of Pelhřimov), Czechoslovakia, on 23 November 1921. In 1956, he became a member of the Prague National ...
, ,
Ivan Vyskočil. DAMU is a member of the
European League of Institutes of the Arts
ELIA (formerly known as The European League of Institutes of the Arts) represents some 300.000 students in all art disciplines.
History
ELIA emerged from a conference organized in Amsterdam in 1990, ''Imagination and Diversity'', aimed to pro ...
(ELIA) and the
European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres (ENCATC).
Film and TV School (FAMU)
The
Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) was established in 1946, as the world’s fifth university-level arts school with a programme in film education. At the end of the 1960s, a number of the school's graduates emerged as part of the
Czechoslovak New Wave movement, including
Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová (2 February 1929 – 12 March 2014) was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovak government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, ''Sedmikrásky'' ('' ...
,
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968.
Forman ...
, and
Jiří Menzel
Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these f ...
. Later graduates of the school to receive international acclaim included
Agnieszka Holland,
Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...
, and
Jan Svěrák
Jan Svěrák () (born 6 February 1965 in Žatec) is a Czech film director. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák. He studied documentary filmmaking at the FAMU. He and his films have received awards including the Academy Award ...
. FAMU is a founding member of the
International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT), and a member of ELIA and the
European Grouping of Film and Television Schools (GEECT).
Music and Dance Faculty (HAMU)
The Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts ( cs, Hudební fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze; HAMU) was established in 1945 as one of the academy’s three components, as a successor to the master school of the
Prague Conservatory. The school provides education in the fields of music and dance in Czech and English at Bachelor, Masters and doctoral levels. The faculty has 12 departments (the Departments of String, Keyboard, Wind and Percussion Instruments, Jazz Interpretation, Voice and Opera Directing, Musical Sound, Theory and History of Music, Conducting, Composition and Pantomime). The faculty also includes three research facilities: the Institute of Music Theory, the Institute for Dance Theory, and the Musical Acoustics Research Centre (MARC). HAMU is the organiser of the orchestral cycle "The Best" and the Skrznaskrz festival, which features collaborations between all three AMU faculties as well as other fine arts schools.
Academics
The academy runs bachelor, master, and doctoral study programmes covering Art of Music, Art of Dance, Art of Drama, Art of Film, TV and Photography, and New Media. Bachelor study programmes usually last three years and students receive Bachelor of Arts degrees (BcA). Master study programmes usually take two further years. After passing the state examination, students receive Master of Arts degrees (MgA). Doctoral study programmes are established at all the faculties. On passing a doctoral examination and presenting a doctoral theses, students are awarded doctorates (Ph.D). The academy offers other special courses outside the regular university study programme, some of which can be used as credit.
Students at the academy are only accepted after completing secondary school education and successfully passing entrance exams. Each faculty has its own
requirements for the entrance exams.
The official language of instruction of the course units is
Czech, but each faculty offers some degree programs in English. A limited number of short-term courses are taught in English or in German, and for others a preparatory course in Czech is necessary.
Facilities and student services
AMU has a library with more than 180,000 volumes of academic literature, sound recordings and audio-visual works, and students are also entitled to use other libraries free of charge, such as the University library and the library of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Students of the academy have free or discounted entry to some cultural events, such as theatre performances, concerts, exhibitions, lectures and films. The academy has co-operative links with other schools in the Czech Republic and internationally, which include artistic competitions, festivals, and reciprocal exchange performances.
AMU's facilities include theatres, film and television studios, and concert halls. A university publishing service, AMU Press (NAMU), publishes literature about AMU artistic activities. The final projects of students studying disciplines with a significant graphic component are exhibited in the AMU Gallery (GAMU), which also hosts one-off thematic exhibitions. AMU has two halls of residence: one on Hradební Street in the centre of Prague, reconstructed in the academic year 2006/07, and another on the southern outskirts of Prague. The academy's Language Centre provides classes in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Czech for students and employees. The AMU Sports, Rehabilitation and Movement Centre organises various sports activities for students.
Notable alumni
DAMU
FAMU
Several of the directors considered part of the
Czechoslovak New Wave attended FAMU, including
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968.
Forman ...
(b. 1932),
Jiří Menzel
Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these f ...
(b. 1938),
Jan Němec
Jan Němec (12 July 1936 – 18 March 2016) was a Czech filmmaker whose most important work dates from the 1960s. Film historian Peter Hames has described him as the "enfant terrible of the Czech New Wave."
Biography
Němec's career as a fil ...
,
Juraj Jakubisko
Juraj Jakubisko (born 30 April 1938) is a Slovak film director. He has directed fifteen feature films, between 1967 and 2008. He often takes the dual role of cinematographer, and is often also credited as a screenplay writer as he usually co-writ ...
,
Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová (2 February 1929 – 12 March 2014) was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovak government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, ''Sedmikrásky'' ('' ...
,
Ivan Passer, and
Vojtěch Jasný.
Also among FAMU's alumni are a group of
Yugoslav film directors
Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to:
* Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name:
** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...
known as the ''
Praška filmska škola'' (Prague Film School) who rose to prominence in the
1970s after graduating from FAMU. Five prominent Yugoslav directors born from 1944 to 1947 attended classes at FAMU:
Lordan Zafranović (b. 1944),
Srđan Karanović
Srđan Karanović ( sr-Cyrl, Срђан Карановић, , born 17 November 1945) is a Serbian film director and screenwriter. He has directed 17 films since 1968. His film '' Miris poljskog cveća'' won the FIPRESCI prize at the 1978 Canne ...
(b. 1945),
Goran Marković (b. 1946),
Goran Paskaljević (b. 1947), and
Rajko Grlić
Rajko Grlić (born 2 September 1947) is a Croatian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of film theory at Ohio University and artistic director of the Motovun Film Festival in Motovun, Croatia.
Biography
Rajko Grlić wa ...
(b. 1947).
[Istočnoevropski filmski fenomen](_blank)
Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...
(b. 1954) also attended FAMU, graduating in 1978, and is also sometimes considered a member of the ''Praška škola''. Cinematographers
Živko Zalar (who has worked with Grlić, Karanović and Marković),
Predrag Pega Popović (who has worked with Zafranović and Marković),
Vilko Filač (who has worked with Kusturica),
Valentin Perko, and
Pavel Grzinčič, also studied at FAMU.
HAMU
*
Sylvie Bodorová (born 1954), Czech composer
*
Karel Fiala
Karel Fiala (3 August 1925 – 3 October 2020) was a Czech operatic tenor and film actor. He was known for his work in operettas and musicals, but received worldwide attention for his portrayal of Mozart's Don Giovanni in the film '' Amadeus''.
B ...
(born 1925), Czech operatic tenor, studied at HAMU 1952-55
*
Michaela Fukačová (born 1959), Czech cellist
*
Simon Gjoni (1925–1991),
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
n composer and conductor, studied at HAMU 1952-58
*
Pavel Hůla (1952–2021), Czech violinist and music teacher, was both a student and professor at HAMU
*
Hana Jonášová
Hana Jonášová is a Czech opera singer active in concerts, recitals, and operas. A coloratura soprano, she is currently a principal artist at the Prague State Opera. She notably won second prize at the Golden Prague Festival, for her perform ...
, Czech operatic soprano
*
Jana Jonášová (born 1943), Czech operatic
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...
, studied at HAMU and is also a current faculty member
[Jana Jonasova, Jana Biography at operissimo.com (in German)](_blank)
*
Naděžda Kniplová
Naděžda Kniplová (née Pokorná; 18 April 1932 – 14 January 2020) was a Czech operatic soprano who had an active international career from the 1950s through the 1980s. Kniplová possessed a large voice with a sonorous, metallic, dark timbre ...
(1932–2020), Czech operatic soprano, studied at HAMU 1954-58, faculty member since 1991.
*
Josef Páleníček (1914–1991), Czech pianist, was a professor at HAMU from 1963
*
Ivan Romanoff
Ivan Romanoff (8 March 1914 – 14 March 1997) was a Canadian conductor, violinist, arranger, and composer. For three decades he led the "Ivan Romanoff Orchestra and Chorus" on a variety of radio and television programs for the Canadian Broad ...
(1914–1997), Canadian conductor and violinist, studied at HAMU 1947-49
*
Edvard Schiffauer (born 1942), Czech composer
*
Norodom Sihamoni
Norodom Sihamoni ( km, នរោត្តម សីហមុនី, ; born 14 May 1953) is King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk. He is the eldest son of Norodom Sih ...
(born 1953), King of
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, studied classical dance and music at HAMU, graduating in 1975
*
Olivier Thouin, Canadian violinist
*
Saša Večtomov (1930–1989), Czech cellist and music teacher, was both a student and professor at HAMU
*
Ludmila Vernerová (born 1962), Czech operatic soprano
*
Tomáš Víšek (born 1957), Czech pianist, studied at HAMU from 1976-84
References
External links
University website
{{authority control
Education in Prague
Theatre in the Czech Republic
Music schools in the Czech Republic
Film schools in the Czech Republic
Educational institutions established in 1945
1945 establishments in Czechoslovakia