Špilberk Festival Opens with Sold-Out Kingdom Come Concert and Miles Davis Tribute
The 27th annual Špilberk Festival opened on August 17, 2026, on the grand courtyard of Špilberk Castle in Brno, featuring a diverse program spanning classical masterworks, jazz tributes, operatic galas, and live video game symphonies organized by the Brno Philharmonic. According to Operaplus.cz, the festival aims to attract both traditional classical listeners and broader audiences through varied, cross-genre programming.
Selling Out the Castle Courtyard With Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Opening night broke typical classical programming molds by spotlighting the symphonic score of the globally successful Czech computer game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Demand proved so high that the opening performance sold out within days, prompting organizers to add a second show for August 18, 2026. Brno Philharmonic Director Marie Kučerová noted that tickets for the added date quickly dwindled as well, confirming the commercial pull of gaming intellectual property in open-air symphonic settings.
The open-air concerts feature music composed by Jan Valta, performed by the Brno Philharmonic alongside the Pěvecký sbor MUNI and the medieval band Bakchus.
Jazz Innovation and the 100th Anniversary of Miles Davis
Shifting from gaming soundscapes to modern jazz history, the festival marks the centenary of Miles Davis on August 20, 2026. European jazz trumpet virtuoso Erik Truffaz joins the Rozhlasový Big Band Gustava Broma for a bespoke project titled Around Miles. Festival dramaturg Vítězslav Mikeš emphasized that the project was commissioned specifically for the Špilberk milestone, pairing Truffaz with experimental guitarist David Kolar.
Music critic Ondřej Bezr described Truffaz as Europe’s foremost standard-bearer for the Davis legacy, highlighting how the Swiss-born artist bridges traditional jazz with electronic textures like drum and bass, ambient soundscapes, and hip-hop.
Operatic Galas and the Grand Finale Under Dennis Russell Davies
The festival balance continues through the week, honoring prominent milestones and orchestral traditions before closing out the schedule. On August 22, 2026, tenor Štefan Margita celebrates his seventieth birthday with a gala featuring soprano Jana Šrejma Kačírková and the Filharmonie Hradec Králové, conducted by Jan Kučera. The program covers cornerstone vocal repertoire from Mozart, Smetana, Dvořák, Verdi, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky.
The 27th iteration wraps up on August 23, 2026, with Carl Orff’s monumental cantata Carmina Burana. Chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies leads the Brno Philharmonic and the Český filharmonický sbor Brno for the closing night. Tickets for the final concert remain extremely limited as the historic Brno venue rounds out another successful summer season.