As an echo of last year's Year of Czech Music, Czech Dreams 2025 will resonate primarily with the tones of our national music; Smetana's My Country is undoubtedly the ideal choice for the opening concert! On Sunday 11 May at 18:30, the renowned piano Duo Ardašev will perform it as part of the partner festival Lunalia, currently taking place in Mechelen, Flanders – a city on the Dijle River between Antwerp and Brussels. Renata Lichnovská and Igor Ardašev will present Smetana's cycle of symphonic poems in an original arrangement for piano four hands, in the concert hall Predikherenkerk, located in a former Dominican monastery now transformed into a vibrant cultural centre.

The opening concert of Czech Dreams 2025 in Mechelen will be exceptional in another way as well: it will be a benefit concert for the foundation bearing the name of our esteemed patroness, Magdalena Kožená. Any voluntary entrance fee to the Duo Ardašev concert will go to the Magdalena Kožená Foundation, which supports arts education in primary art schools.