Prague, 8 June 2026 | The 81st edition of the Prague Spring International Music Festival has reported 98% occupancy across its venues, a full three percentage points higher than in 2025. A total of 30,500 tickets were sold for 36 concerts, 6 masterclasses and 9 workshops with paid admission. The festival also recorded approximately 2,500 reservations for 13 further free-admission events. Altogether, it filled a capacity of 33,000 seats and generated box-office revenue of CZK 39.4 million, an increase of CZK 3.2 million compared to 2025.
“This year’s Prague Spring offered audiences an exceptionally broad spectrum of experiences, not only in terms of genres and styles, but also instrumental combinations and types of projects. Among the most powerful moments of this year’s edition were undoubtedly the concerts of Prague Spring 2026 Artist-in-Residence Barbara Hannigan, who offered an entirely unique experience in each of her four festival appearances. The opening concert with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Petr Popelka was equally outstanding, as was the closing performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with an exceptional vocal cast and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under Daniele Gatti. Yet every single project of this year’s festival was unique in its own way, and the artistic standard throughout was truly extraordinary. I am also delighted that we stepped even further beyond the traditional concert halls and presented a number of open-air projects, including Prague Spring Open Air, supported by the ČEZ Group. We were equally encouraged by the strong response to our programmes for young audiences, including the SpringTEEN project and the public dress rehearsal for primary-school children, which we organised in cooperation with The Kellner Family Foundation’s Helping Schools Succeed programme,” says Festival Director Robert Hanč. “I am also very pleased that we not only met but exceeded our ticket-sales targets and that, thanks to this success, together with the support of our major partners – the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague, the ČEZ Group, innogy Česká republika, and the contributions of members of the Friends of Prague Spring patrons’ club – we are very likely to maintain a balanced budget in 2026. That is excellent news,” Robert Hanč adds.
Alongside the projects already mentioned, the undisputed highlights of this year’s festival included the concerts of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the performance by the Oslo Philharmonic and conductor Klaus Mäkelä, which marked the definitive conclusion of Mäkelä’s six-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the orchestra, the festival’s first-ever performance of Luboš Fišer’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Jakub Hrůša and the Czech Philharmonic, the return of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with conductor Tomáš Hanus, and the Prague Spring debut of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with Lahav Shani. Particularly remarkable was the series of large-scale vocal-instrumental works: Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Tomáš Netopil, Jules Massenet’s “Drame Sacré” Marie-Magdeleine performed by the National Theatre Chorus and Orchestra under Robert Jindra, Haydn’s oratorio The Creation with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Václav Luks, and the modern revival of Antonio Casimir Cartellieri’s oratorio La Purificazione di Maria Virgine, presented to festival audiences by the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra under its Artistic Director Aapo Häkkinen.
The festival also welcomed a host of distinguished soloists. Alongside internationally renowned vocal stars, audiences heard the winner of the 2025 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Eric Lu; ARD Munich Competition winner, pianist Lukas Sternath, who will return to the festival stage in November as part of the Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival, Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk, French lutenist Thomas Dunford, and the Dutch piano duo Lucas and Arthur Jussen, who delighted Prague Spring audiences on two occasions – first in a programme with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and then in a thrilling evening alongside percussionists Alexej Gerassimez and Emil Kuyumcuyan. The Prague Spring Debut series introduced conductor Ondřej Soukup, who captivated festival audiences with an “American” programme inspired by dance, performed together with Prague Philharmonia and soprano Simona Šaturová.
The Prague Offspring project, dedicated to contemporary music, continued for its fifth year. “I am delighted that Ensemble Modern, Prague Offspring’s resident ensemble for the years 2025–2027, returned to the festival, accompanied by Korean composer Unsuk Chin, who visited the Czech Republic for the first time in her career. Alongside landmark works by Unsuk Chin, the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art hosted five highly compelling world premieres by Czech and Slovak composers – a total of seventy-five minutes of new music commissioned by Prague Spring,” says the Festival’s Artistic Director Josef Třeštík.
Prague Spring 2026 concerts were available through Czech Radio, Czech Television and social networks. Czech Radio Vltava broadcast a total of six live concerts and one recorded performance from the festival, all of which are currently available on demand via the Czech Radio Vltava website. As is tradition, Czech Television broadcast the festival’s opening concert and also recorded the performance of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with conductor Tomáš Hanus and soloist Yuya Mizuno, winner of last year’s Prague Spring International Music Competition in the cello category. The cultural channel ČT art also aired 25 reports from Prague Spring 2026 under the title ECHO of the Prague Spring. In addition, Martin Suchánek’s documentary Prague Spring – A Window onto the World, charting the festival’s eighty-year history, received its premiere on Czech Television.
Thanks to a newly established partnership with the Czech Centres network, live screenings of the Prague Spring opening concert took place on 12 May in cinemas in Vienna, London, Belgrade and Bratislava, while the Czech Centre in Tokyo screened a recording of the concert on 14 May. Additional members of the Czech Centres network also cross-posted Smetana’s My Country on their Facebook profiles, making this iconic work of Czech music accessible to audiences in 23 countries worldwide: Serbia, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Egypt, Vietnam, Israel, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, the United States, France, the Republic of Korea, Bulgaria, Sweden, Georgia, Japan, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Taiwan. The recording remains available on Facebook until 10 June 2026.
Prague Spring Art Salon charity auction in support of Prague Spring
As part of the 95th auction held by Galerie KODL on 31 May at Žofín Palace, works by leading contemporary Czech artists Pavla Malinová, Karolina Netolická, Michal Cimala, Jan Hísek, Jakub Špaňhel and Vladimír Véla were auctioned in support of Prague Spring artistic projects, raising CZK 515,000. Festival audiences were able to view the auctioned artworks throughout the duration of the festival at concert venues in the Rudolfinum and the Municipal House.
Partners of Prague Spring 2026
The festival extends its sincere gratitude to the partners of Prague Spring, without whose financial support the festival would not be possible. In 2026, the festival’s partnership structure comprised the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague, General partner ČEZ Group and Festival partner innogy Česká republika. The Czech Centres became the festival’s Partner for international presentation in 2026. The following companies joined the partnership structure supporting individual concerts: FNC Technology, Allianz pojišťovna and ABB Česká republika. Czech Television served as General media partner, Czech Radio as Principal media partner, Economia as Media partner for print and online media, Mercedes-Benz Česká republika as Official car, and Hilton Prague Atrium as Official hotel. The festival’s General partner, ČEZ Group, also supported the Prague Spring International Music Competition and the SpringTEEN project through the ČEZ Foundation. Special thanks are due to the Friends of Prague Spring patrons’ club, which brings together individual and corporate donors supporting the Prague Spring Festival.
