Berta Rojas, Guitar

Emerging Artist Award Recipient

Renowned for her flawless technique and innate musicality, Berta Rojas ranks among today’s foremost classical guitarists. She has been praised as “guitarist extraordinaire” by the Washington Post, and by Classical Guitar magazine as an “Ambassador of the classical guitar.”

Her warmth and heart-touching musical artistry delights audiences wherever she performs.

Several years ago Berta Rojas received the Amadeus Concerts’ Emerging Artist Award and later performed the Rodrigo Guitar Concerto with the Amadeus Orchestra.

Jessica Stecklein, Soprano

Previous Emerging Artist Award Winner

Recognized as Washington’s gift to opera, Lyric Coloratura Soprano Jessica Stecklein (nee Swink) possesses a unique voice of angelic beauty imbued with a luscious richness that has always succeeded in moving and delighting her audiences. Ms. Stecklein has enjoyed popular and critical acclaim in all of her performances. She sang the role of Essy Baker in the premier of Democracy, and with the Washington National Opera as Pamina in Die Zauberflote. With Opera International Jessica sang the role of Blanche in the Dialogues of the Carmelites, as Gilda in the fourth act of Rigoletto and performed in their 2005 Operatic Vocal Gala at The Music Center at Strathmore.

Mrs. Stecklein performed Samuel Barber’s Knoxville, summer of 1915 with the National Symphony as the Winner in their Young Soloists Competition at the Kennedy Center and in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges and Gounod’s Messe Solonelle. She recorded a duet Belle Nuit from The Tales of Hoffman with Denyce Graves for a PBS Television Special and performed with her in Grendel at Lincoln Center and at Los Angeles Opera where she was a Resident Artist.

Visit Jessica Stecklein’s website to read more!

Petr & Josef Špaček, Violin & Cello

Previous Emerging Artist Award Winners

Petr Špaček was born in 1988 in Trebíč, Czech Republic. Petr began playing the cello at the age of 6. He continued his studies at the Prague Conservatory with Valdan Koci from 2003 until December 2008.

Petr has won several competitions and scholarships. Among his most recent achievements are the grand prize at the International Radio Competition Concertino Praga and a successful audition to join the European Union Youth Orchestra.  As a soloist he has performed with orchestras such as the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia, and many others. Additionally, he has collaborated with numerous conductors including Vladimir Valek, Petr Vronsky, Stanislav Vavrinek, and Jaroslav Brych, among others. Petr has performed in Europe, North America and Asia in halls such as Sapporo Concert Hall in Japan, Jordan Hall in Boston, Dvorak Hall of Rudolfinum and Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague. Petr regularly performs with his brother, Josef Špaček, the concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Josef Špaček was born in the Czech Republic, virtuoso Josef Špacek’s most recent appointment as the youngest ever concert master of the Czech Philharmonic is a testament to his incredible talent. The 25 year-old balances the prestigious role with his flourishing solo career. In 2009, Josef won the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and both Third Prize and the Young People’s Jury Prize in the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in 2008. Josef has been guided by some of the most highly regarded pedagogues, including Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music and Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School.

As a soloist, Josef has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Czech Chamber Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic and the Russian Chamber Philharmonic.

The winner of the International Radio Competition Concertino Praga, founder of Prague Cello Quartet, soloist with major Czech orchestras, and a student at one of the most prestigious American universities, the New England Conservatory in Boston.