History of Janáček Academy of Performing Arts

Establishment of the Organ School in Brno

A series of articles by Leoš Janáček in the Moravská orlice magazine proposes the establishment of a university of music in Brno

Act No 183/1920 Sb. establishes the State Conservatory of Music and Drama in Brno; this also includes master classes in composition (L. Janáček) and piano (Vilém Kurz), which followed the conservatory studies, but did not have the legal status of a university

Decree of the President of the Republic No 127 Sb. establishes the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) in Prague; in the same year, professors of the Brno Conservatory submit a memorandum – supported by Moravian city, university and institution representatives – with a request for an academy of performing arts to be also established in Brno

Act 168/1947 Sb. concerning the establishment of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno (JAMU), consisting of a music and drama department; the proposal of deputy Pažoutová (supported in writing by other Moravian deputies) to name the academy after Leoš Janáček is approved

• Faculty of Music is established (23 students) – founding professors: Antonín Balatka, Gracian Černušák, Josef Jedlička, František Kudláček, Ludvík Kundera, Viktor Nopp, Vilém Petrželka, František Schäfer, Bohumil Soběský, Vilém Vaňura
• Jan Kunc, composer and emeritus director of the Brno Conservatory, was appointed Dean of JAMU; organisational status determined the basic fields of study: composition and conducting, opera dramaturgy, directing and acting, music theory, piano, violin, other orchestral instruments, organ
• Studies of opera and chamber singing and composition were 10 semesters long, other music disciplines had 8 semesters and studies of dramatic disciplines lasted for 7
• Studies at JAMU were made equal to studies at other universities; the following buildings have been allocated to JAMU: Smetanova 14, Komenium on Kounicovova Street 34, insurance company on Joštova Street 2

The grand opening of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno

• Resolution of the Ministry of Education, Science and Arts opens the Drama Department of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, consisting of the fields of directing and acting
• Frank Wollman, professor at the Masaryk University and leading figure of the Brno theatrology scene, is appointed Dean

Pianist and composer PhDr. Ludvík Kundera is appointed Rector of JAMU

• In this academic year, 27 professors and 10 lecturers gave lectures at JAMU; the school had 66 students at the Faculty of Music and 19 at the Theatre Faculty (a total of 85 students)
• The basic fields of study at the Theatre Faculty were: acting, directing and, from 1950, dramaturgy and theatre science; for the practical work of drama students, a Theatre Studio was established in the hall of the New Home at 43 Gorký Street; the first premiere was a performance of K. Biňovec’s Na nás záleží (12 February 1949); the JAMU Theatre Studio was subsequently moved to the theatre building at the Brno Exhibition Grounds

JAMU was allocated half of the building of the former German grammar school on Komenského Square 6, the school also includes the Komenium at Kounicova Street 34, rooms at Joštova Street 2; the organ field was located at the conservatory – Kpt. Jaroše Street 45

Premiere of František Škroup’s opera Dráteník; student opera performances are performed on various stages of Brno theatres

• Violinist František Kudláček is appointed Dean of the Faculty of Music, Jaromír Michal is appointed Dean of the Theatre Faculty
• Theatre students perform at the County and Regional Theatre (later Mrštík Brothers Theatre) – their first premiere is Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin

The Marta Hall on 5 Bayer Street becomes the final seat of the JAMU Theatre Studio; acting and directing students Alois Hajda, Lubomír Kostelka, Vladimír Menšík, Jiří Tomek, Milan Vágner and others contributed significantly to the building modifications

JAMU Opera Studio is founded on the initiative of Ota Zítek

The JAMU Opera Studio has acquired a hall in Husův Sbor at Svatopluka Čecha Street 35

Study of theatre directing is reopened after a long break at the initiative of the head of the acting department, doc. Miloš Hynšt

The second half of the building on 6 Komensky Square is handed over to JAMU, concerts are now held in the school hall; the Studio of Contemporary Music is established at the Department of Composition and Conducting

The university now includes the following departments and divisions: composition and conducting, instruments, solo singing, opera directing and opera acting; dramatic acting and theatre directing; division of art theory, culture of movement, Marxism-Leninism, languages

International Interpretation Courses are held at JAMU for the first time

The Department of Synthetic Theatre Genres is established

Vice-Rectors Miloslav Ištvan and Marie Mrázková are removed from the positions of vice-rectors for political reasons and teachers Vlasta Fialová, Vítězslav Gardavský, Alois Hajda, Miloš Hynšt, Vojtěch Jestřáb, Bedřich Jičínský, Josef Karlík, Bořivoj Srba, Milan Uhde, Igor Zhoř must leave the school

A two-year postgraduate study of theatre directing is introduced

• Reconstruction of the technical facilities of the Miloš Wasserbauer Chamber Opera is completed
• As part of integration efforts, opera and theatre directing are combined into one department; opera acting returns to the Department of Opera Singing

The playing of percussion instruments is now taught at the university

JAMU students join the nationwide strike of students and theatre artists; a gathering of students, teachers and school staff takes place

The Civic Forum is established at JAMU; students’ trips to factories and schools are culminating; JAMU Student Council is established

• Alena Štěpánková-Veselá is elected the new Rector
• Commencement of Studio Marta renovations

• Decree of the Government of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic No 282/1990 Sb., on the renewal of the division of JAMU into separate faculties – music and theatre; Josef Kovalčuk is put in charge of re-establishing the Theatre Faculty
• The Theatre Faculty acquires premises at 20 Bureš Street; teachers dismissed in the early 1970s return to the faculty along with new personalities, especially from studio theatres

New fields of study at the Theatre Faculty: drama education, theatre management and drama in education for the Deaf

The first year of the Leoš Janáček Competition at the Faculty of Music

The first edition of the International Symposium of Theatre Anthropology at the Theatre Faculty

• JAMU awards Ludvík Kundera an honorary doctorate 
• Commencement of the construction of JAMU’s first own dormitories – the information, teaching and accommodation centre on Novobranská Street 
• Extension of the technical facilities and rehearsal rooms of Studio Marta

• Ceremony to open the Information, teaching and accommodation centre Astorka on Novobranská Street 3. The JAMU library from Gorkého Street is moved to these premises
• The first meeting of the fifteen-member JAMU Managing Board
• A new field of stage technology is now available at the Theatre Faculty

• JAMU awards an honorary doctorate to playwright Václav Havel
• The Faculty of Music inaugurates an organ by German company Fischer und Krämer

The first edition of the International Conference of Doctoral Studies of Theatre Schools

New fields are opened: guitar (Faculty of Music) and clown stage and film production (Theatre Faculty)

New fields at the Theatre Faculty: lighting design and dance and movement theatre and education