ENG
With a blend of Slovak and Syrian heritage, Kristýna Farag, a Czech flautist, singer, and teacher, has built her artistic work around both classical music and Middle Eastern tradition, shaping her distinct voice. A graduate of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, Czech Republic, she is a versatile independent musician who performs classical music from various periods, with a focus on 20th-century music. She obtained a Master’s degree with a thesis on Charles Koechlin and his works for flute. She co-won the 1st prize in the Friedrich Kuhlau International Competition in Uelzen, Germany, in the Flute Trio category (2011).
With Syrian oud player and poet Marwan Alsolaiman, Kristýna forms the Albaidar Duo, focusing on intimate arrangements of folk and classical Arabic music. In 2024, they performed at Kettle’s Yard gallery in Cambridge in response to an exhibition by Syrian visual artist Issam Kourbaj, and, inspired by one of the exhibition’s themes—seeds—they took their name. Improvisation is an essential part of Arabic music, which Kristýna also delves into in her Prague-based improvisation quartet, Fahrzavö, consisting of three woodwind players and a cimbalom player. Passionate about choral music, Kristýna is currently a member of the Leeds Guild of Singers led by Benjamin Kirk.
In 2015, she took part as a soloist in a unique film score performance and recording of one of the icons of Czech New Wave cinema, Zdeněk Liška’s Marketa Lazarová, alongside the Baborák Ensemble. The project also appeared in the concert programme of The Prague Symphony Orchestra in March 2022, again under the baton of the renowned French horn player and conductor Radek Baborák. At Prague’s international festival Strings of Autumn 2019, she performed Vermont Counterpoint for amplified flute and tape by Steve Reich and one of the soprano scores in his ecstatic Music for 18 Musicians.
As a freelance flautist and soprano, she has worked extensively with Czech contemporary composers such as Jan Rybář, premiering his music for a Czech silent film at the Prague Spring Festival 2019, The Organist at Saint Vitus’ Cathedral, as well as Martin Klusák, Jan Ryant Dřízal, Marek Kopelent, and others. Regarding her orchestral experience, she has collaborated externally with PKF-Prague Philharmonia, Berg Orchestra, and Prague Chamber Orchestra, among others.
Kristýna likes to explore the links between music, visual arts, and literature. In September 2023, she created a musical reflection on artworks by Issam Kourbaj and Pavel Büchler at the exhibition The Weight of Words at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. In recent years, she has performed selections from Charles Koechlin’s Les Chants de Nectaire for solo flute on multiple occasions, accompanied by readings from Anatole France’s novel La Révolte des Anges, which directly inspired Koechlin’s series.
Kristýna has also been involved in the vibrant world of Czech theatre. For 13 years, she worked with the well-known Prague theatre-music group Cabaret Calembour, which was founded by members of the National Theatre. She contributed as a flautist, singer, and actress.
Kristýna has many years of experience teaching students of all ages and abilities, including helping them prepare for ABRSM exams and auditions. She is currently a teacher at Sheffield Music Hub, and she also teaches privately, both in-person and online.
Previously, she taught flute and recorder at the International School of Music and Fine Arts, Prague (2016–2020), and was a flute teacher at the Grammar School and Music School of Prague (2021–2023), as well as at the Music School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
CZ
Kristýna Farag je flétnistkou, zpěvačkou a pedagožkou, absolventkou hudebního Gymnázia Jana Nerudy a Janáčkovy akademie múzických umění v Brně. Věnuje se hudbě napříč všemi epochami s důrazem na hudbu 20. století, ale také arabské hudbě a improvizaci. S Marwanem Alsolaimanem tvoří Albaidar Duo, představující českému i zahraničnímu publiku komorní aranže lidových písní Blízkého východu, ale také klasickou arabskou hudbu. S klarinetisty a saxofonisty Michalem Hrubým a Zdenkem Závodným a skladatelkou a cimbalistkou Janou Vöröšovou tvoří uskupení Fahrzavö, které v roce 2023 vydalo své první album pod hlavičkou labelu Hevhetia. Kristýna v současné době žije a působí ve Spojeném království.
Na festivalu Struny podzimu 2015 vystoupila ve spolupráci s Petrem Ostrouchovem a Radkem Baborákem v unikátním projektu Zdeněk Liška: Marketa Lazarová. V rámci koncertní řady Symfonického orchestru hl.m. Prahy FOK se v březnu 2022 s partem sólové altové flétny zúčastnila zkrácené reprízy projektu. Na Strunách podzimu 2019 v programu Maraton americké hudby provedla Vermont Counterpoint pro flétny a zvukovou stopu Stevea Reicha a jeden z vokálních partů v Music for 18 Musicians téhož autora. Podílela se na provedení hudby k němému filmu Varhaník u sv. Víta skladatele Jana Rybáře na festivalu Pražské jaro 2019. Po třináct let byla flétnistkou, zpěvačkou a herečkou souboru Cabaret Calembour autorského tria Šotek-Orozovič-Suchý. V kategorii flétnové trio Kristýna spoluzískala 1. cenu v mezinárodní soutěži Friedricha Kuhlau v německém Uelzenu (2011). Pedagogicky působila na Gymnáziu a Hudební škole hl. m. Prahy (2021-2023), na Fakultní ZUŠ HAMU na Praze 5 (2020-2022) a na Mezinárodní umělecké škole ISMFA. Nyní vyučuje soukromě.
