vocal ensemble
We are a group of singers from all around the Czech Republic enthusiastic about early music and everything connected to it. Altezza diversa was established in 2021 thanks to the Summer School of Baroque Music – after we realized that we couldn't bear spending another whole year without one another, we agreed to keep meeting up. Since then, we've been busy putting into practice everything we've learned, while also continuing to learn from one another. We take pride in calling ourselves an amateur group – that is, in the original French sense of the word "amateur" – lover or aficionado. We are not professional singers and we only meet about once a month – but we love what we do and we're passionate about presenting it to you with all the love that we feel for music.
Members
ANGELIKA VIKTORINOVÁ
soprano, manager
Brno
Angelika has had music in her life ever since the beginning, in various forms. She sang in children's choirs since she was seven, which eve inspired her to create and lead her own choir, "Hvězdice". Then, for some time she laid off choral singing and focused more on playing keyboards and recorder. She went on to teach both at a private music school. After graduating high school, out of a range of possibilities she chose to major in Music Studies, in which she received a Master's degree. During her studies she performed as a keyboards player in bands and sang in multiple choirs – Collegium Musicum, Millenium, Masaryk University Chorus – and also gave into Karel's temptation to visit the Summer School of Baroque Music for the first time. Subsequently, she and Karel began to experiment with a capella singing, which she has been doing on a recreational basis since 2015. She used her experiences from primary school and has lead each of her a capella ensembles as manager. This also holds true with Altezza diversa, which is now her main hobby.
When Angelika gets excited about something, she is able to plunge into it with unbelievable enthusiasm and zeal.
ZUZANA EIGLOVÁ
soprano
Třebíč
Zuzka began singing as a schoolgirl, when she was 7 and became a member of the Campanella Children's Choir under the tutelage of Drahomíra Chaloupecká at Elementary Art School Třebíč. Thanks to this, she fell in love with choral singing and has remained true to it nearly non-stop to this day. Later, she also took solo singing lessons from Jarmila Kubová at Elementary Art School Třebíč. During her high school studies she also tried out singing with a rock band, at weddings, and of course in the school chorus. To put it simply.. you can never have enough singing :-) Nowadays, Zuzka regularly sings in the church choir Musica animata and mixed chorus Differo.
Since 2020 she has regularly attended the Summer School of Baroque Music in Holešov, where she met the other memebrs of Altezza diversa.
In her working life, Zuzka is an English tutor and translator. She loves traveling, spending time with her family, going for walks in nature and trying new things. Such as lately dips in cold water.
ELIŠKA KORITYÁKOVÁ
alto
Prague
Eliška started flirting with music by starting to take recorer lesson at the age of seven, which were followed a year later with solo singing, recorder ensemble, and another year later her first choir – all that under the tutelage of Hana Zelníčková. As she moved a lot in her childhood, she tried out multiple school choirs, but her true passion came when she was fourteen. Eliška started frequenting the Křenová High School Chorus in Brno, where she had the feeling of true belonging. She also went to her first historical reenactment event, where she started absorbing knowledge about historical musical instruments and got her first tenor recorder, which was then followed by a range of woodwinds from various places in the world and eras in history. During her studies she contined jumping from shool choir to school choir and historical event to historical event, accompanied by more musical instruments and performing regularly in taverns. Eliška's fields of interests converged more and more, until finally she found out about Altezza diversa, to whom she clung first as a listener, and later as a member. Now Eliška just needs to find a way to fit in all those instruments :)
MARTINA HANELOVÁ
alto
Ostrava
Martina has been singing non-stop in Ostrava choirs since the age of six. Her longest stint has been in the Academic Choir of VSB Technical University of Ostrava, where she also holds the position of Choir President. It was here that she originally met Matěj – the bass singer whom she was shocked to meet completely by chance years later at the first rehearsal of Altezza diversa. Currently, Martina also devotes her time to the vocal group The Puzzles, who presents jazz arrangements of well-known and lesser-known works and whose primary goal is to entertain the audience.
The interest to discover all kinds of musical styles has brought Martina to all kinds of places. Since an early age she has been part of two vocal groups that she co-founded with her fellow singers from youth choirs. Experiences with jazz left behind a love of rich harmony variations. Performing in bands and projects far from early or classical music have enriched her and pushed the boundaries of her vocal versatility. It wasn't until 2021 that she happened to come to Holešov to the Summer School of Baroque Music and discovered early music.
Following her conviction that it's never too late to start learning new things, Martina started studying solo singing and the age of twenty. Quite recently, she also took up learning English. Her mind never stops hearing plays on words, bad puns, and little bits of songs. Martina passes on her musical proficiency by teaching at a primary school with a specialization in music, where she also conducts choirs.
Despite all this, Martina likes a silent moment with a book and a coffee, but even then you'll most likely see her tapping or swinging her leg to the rhythm of a song that you just happen to not hear.
KAREL VIKTORIN
tenor, emcee
Brno
Karel has been singing with minor interruptions since the age of seven. He started in preparatory choirs of the Primavera Children's Chorus (where he sang, among others, with also seven-year-old Angelika), at on his life path went on to sing in groups like the Sacramento Children's Chorale (California, USA), Farragut High School Men's Chorus (Tennessee, USA), La Vérité of Kansai Gaidai University (Ōsaka, Japan) or prominent Czech chorus Cantica laetitia. His home choir for a long time was Ars Brunensis (where he waged a long battle against extinction of the tenor section alongside Jirka) before turning towards his own projects, at whose pinnacle stands Altezza diversa. Apart from this, whenever his busy family and work life permits, he loves attending the Summer School of Baroque Music (where he met Pavla, Martina, František and Zuzana) or projects with Czech Ensemble Baroque or groups like Illegal Consort or Societas Incognitorum.
In his work life Karel works as a project manager, but most of all he devotes his life to his family and being an ardent linguist.
Among his most illustrious life deeds Karel considers co-founding Altezza diversa and winning first place in the Czech Pokémon game Championships of 2006.
JIŘÍ KUDLÁČ
tenor
Brno
Jirka didn't start singing until high school, where he spent several years as a member of the Mladí madrigalisté. From there he moved, much like many of his predecessors, to the Ars Brunensis chorus. There for some time he played the part of an underage anomaly, but this did eventually change over the next nearly 13 years of membership. During this time, Jirka took part in all kinds of of performances with the Brno City Theater, performing author's works of Vladimír Franz, recording film music of foreign authors, Jaromír Hnilička's Jazz Mass and a host of other culturally more or less valuable works. It's worth mentioning that in Ars (an abbreviation used by Brno's choral experts), Jirka got to know Karel, with whom he shared many joys and sorrows of the life of tenors. Jirka also attended several instalments of the Summer School of Baroque Music, thanks to which he improved on the interpretation skills of one of his favorite peroids of classical music, not to mention meeting the remaining members of Altezza diversa. Jirka also established a cooperation with Czech Ensemble Baroque, with whom – whenever his annual leave balance allows for it – every now and then swims the waters of historically informed Baroque performance. In the past on several occasions Jirka also cooperated with the chorus Cantica laetitia and once had the opportunity of helping out in Ensemble Frizzante.
In his personal life Jirka makes a living as a lawyer/economist in a bank. He devotes his free time to his family, friends, music, food, drink, and other pleasures of life.
FRANTIŠEK HOLEČEK
barytone
Prague
František has been a choral singer since he was six years old. Until the year 2012 he was a member of the boys' and men's chorus Pueri gaudentes led by Zdena Součková at Elementary Art School Šimáčkova in Prague. At this institution, in the years 2008-2015 he was a member of the mixed chamber choir Pontes under Markéta Džuneva. Currently, he sings in the chamber choir Entropie under Matouš Pavlis and Alžběta Holcová, and on occasion also in the Týnská schola at the Church of Our Lady before Týn. He gradually works on his interest of studying and performing Gregorian chant as an amateur. Since 2019 he is a regular at the Summer School of Baroque Music in Holešov, where one by one he met all the other members of Altezza diversa.
František's profession is a nurse, currently Head Nurse at a home care agency in Prague.
MATĚJ OTRUBA
bass
Brussels
Unlike most others, Matěj didn't start singing until he was fifteen years old – and this was quite the fluke: one of his friends at the time brought him to a rehearsal of her chorus (the Academic Chorus in Ostrava) and the conductor tried him out just as a joke… and he just happened to stick with it since then. Here he met Martina, because the world is a small place.
Sine 2010 Matěj has had the opportunity to work with a range of groups – apart from the Academic Chorus also with the similarly named Czech Academic Chorus (formerly Chorus of Masaryk University) or as a temp at the Janáček Theater chorus in works like The Plays of Mary, Don Carlos, L'Amour de loin etc. He gathered experience in vocal ensemble singing for five years with his group Illegato. Matěj regularly lends a helping voice (so to speak) at events organized by Dan Kalousek of the Brno City Theater of Ensemble Frizzante. He considers his deepest singing experience to be singing for an 80-thousand-strong audience at the German metal festival Wacken, where he sang backing vocals for Sabaton on their European tour.
In his professional life, Matěj teaches foreign languages and Czech as a second language, formerly privately and at a high school Brno, currently at an international European School in Brussels.
SYLVA POKORNÁ
producer
Brno
Sysa has been in the world of music since an early age. She's been singing ever since she learned to talk, and at the age of five started studying at Elementary Art School Slunná as an exceptionally gifter child. Until the age of ten she studied solo singing and recorder, also picking up piano when she was fourteen. Currently she sings in the chorus Ars Brunensis, in the chamber group Těžké harmonično and in the showchoir First Smile, where she also gets involved as producer. Nevertheless, her way into choral singing was paved by Vídeňská high school's chorus Mladí Madrigalisté, where she still returns to help out even after having graduated. Since 2019 she regularly attends the Summer School of Baroque Music, where she started by singing in the chorus and in 2022 decided to also try her skills in the Ensemble class. As for her role as Producer, she tries to gather experience wherever possible.
Former members
PAVLA NOWAKOVÁ
sopráno & guest
Třinec
After some experience with tapping on the piano keyboard and blowing into a recorder, Pavla entered an Elementary Art School in 4th grade. Her fingers were too small to get accepted into classical guitar class, but after her audition the teacher suggested that she enroll as a solo singer. She stayed true to this until high school graduation, and concluded with an Art School Graduation concert. Since her high school years she stuck her nose wherever she could, singing for five years in the Třinec Gymnasium High School Choir. To this day she still sings with the women's chamber choir CZKW (since 2009) and mixed chorus Cantica laetitia in Zlín (since 2010), where she met Karel for the first time. Apart from that, her longing to keep discovering new things and gather experience has led her to various events, classes, seminars and helping out as a singer. However, she still longed for something else than choirs, so she mustered up her courage in 2017 and dove into the unknown of the Summer School of Baroque Music in Holešov, into the Ensemble acapella vocal class. There she ended up meeting fellow enthusiast of ensemble singing and embarked on a new adventure called Altezza diversa.
In her professional life Pavla is a social worker with a specialization in senior citizens and handicapped people. Apart from music, without which she can't even imagine a life, she likes party games, jigsaw puzzles, self-development activities and reading. She would also like to do more of dancing horseback riding, swimming, learning languages, playing more musical instruments… but these may just be plans for a next life. In 2022, Pavla decided to part ways with Altezza diversa for a time, perhaps to be able to pursue that next life at least a little bit.