Other Activities

At present, the International Dvořák Society is beginning to prepare the American Spring 2012 Festival, which will take place between late April and late June 2012.

Also in cooperation with EPTA (European Piano Teachers’ Association), IDS organized a European Union Piano Competition, as one of the accompanying cultural events connected with the Czech presidency of the EU. The competition took place in Prague and Ostrava from June 24 to June 29, 2009 (see EU Piano Competition).

In the fall of 2008, Radoslav Kvapil undertook a US piano tour, which began with his recital on October 21 in Annapolis St. John’s and ended with his concert at Michigan University in Ann Arbor on November 14. The high point of the tour was Mr. Kvapil’s recital at Kennedy Center in Washington on October 28, the 90th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. It is the national holiday of the Czech Republic (see US piano tour of Radoslav Kvapil).

In 2007, Jiřina Rybáčková arranged the publication of the Czech version of a book by Cyril Klimesh, They Came to This Place, a story of Czech immigrants who in the course of the second half of the 19th century built the city of Spillville in Iowa. Spillville was made famous in 1893 when Antonín Dvořák spent the summer there with his family. IDS sponsored the publication of the Czech translation of this book, which came out in April 2008 under the title Přicházeli zdaleka.