OCTOBER 2018 | NEWSLETTER | ISSUE NO. 70
PRESERVING CZECH AND SLOVAK CULTURE IN NEW YORK CITY. SINCE 1891.
Dear Friends of BBLA,
Quite a remarkable crowd, quipped one of the distinguished guests who together with her husband of Czech lineage supported our Gala evening as part of the Rehearsal for Truth theater festival this past Thursday. I could not agree more. Among all those fascinating people that came to celebrate with us, we hosted two former Secretaries of State: Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger.

CHECK THIS OUT
Antonin Dvorak: Saint Ludmila Oratorio

The Dvorak Prague International Music Festival 2018 gala performance was seen by New Yorkers via simulcast at the Bohemian National Hall on September 15th. For those who may have missed this, it may be viewed on Czech TV.

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www.ceskatelevize.cz
Suzanna Halsey: I Organised New York Celebration of...

Suzanna Halsey is one of the most active members of the Czech community in New York and describes herself as an inveterate organiser. Alongside teaching Czech and other work, she is on the board of the New York chapter of the Czechoslovak Society ...

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www.radio.cz
COMING UP IN OCTOBER
Saturday, October 6 - Sunday, October 7
Centennial Heritage Festival

Marionette theater performances, folk music concerts with Czech, Slovak, Moravian, Silesian, Roma and Rusyn folk songs, and folk song-inspired performances, traditional folk costumes kroje presentation, film screenings, a sing-along, and more.
Wednesday, October 10, 7:00 pm
Jarmila Novotna: My Life in Song
book launch, musical tribute

An exclusive American introduction of the memoirs of Czech-American opera star and film actress, Jarmila Novotna (1907-1994). Author and editor William V. Madison will speak about the international triumphs of this multi-talented celebrity who acted as a cultural ambassador for the Czechoslovak nation throughout her career
Thursday, October 11, 7:00 pm
Jan Machacek: Democracy, Security and Market Economy
talk

“100 years of Czechoslovakia and the USA as Partners: Democracy, Security and Market Economy,” a talk by Jan Machacek, a Czech columnist, musician and university lecturer.

Monday, October 15, 7:00 pm
Martin Nekola: Czech and Slovak New York, 1848-2018
talk

Explore the many locations in New York City with connections to Czech and Slovak history, and recall important personalities, organizations and periodicals.

Thursday, October 18, 7:00 pm
Gilded Age Newsmakers: Antonin Dvorak, Jeannette Thurber, and the National Conservatory of Music of America
talk

From the moment Czech composer Antonin Dvorak stepped ashore to assume the post of Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in September 1892, he was besieged by reporters anxious to follow his every move.
Wednesday, October 24, 7:00 pm
Kevin McNamara: Dreams of a Great Small Nation
talk

Kevin McNamara, author of the book "Dreams of a Great Small Nation," will introduce his comprehensive account of the highly dramatic events that led to the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918. 

INTERESTING reads
Pianist Tomas Kaco: When I tell Somebody I'm a Gypsy...

Earlier this year the young piano virtuoso Tomáš Kačo performed for the first time at New York's famous Carnegie Hall. It was the fulfilment of a long-held dream for the 31-year-old, who comes from a large Romany family in a small Czech town and...

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www.radio.cz
Koláče: Delicious, Ornamental Pies that Warm the Heart...

There are a few things that Czechs can't live without when they go abroad : good beer, Czech bread and koláče - pies or tarts made of thinly rolled dough, beautifully decorated with sweet farmers cheese, poppy-seed filling, thick plum preserves...

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www.radio.cz
US Author Highlights Legionnaires' Role in Founding...

'Dreams of a Great Small Nation' is a book by US scholar and historian Kevin J McNamara. It traces the circumstances surrounding the exploits of the Czechoslovak legion during WWI and in particular their takeover of the Trans-Siberian railway and ...

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www.radio.cz
Revisiting a Czech Artist's Collages of Human Cruelty,...

While Grimace of the Century at Prague's National Gallery is not dedicated to Kolář's collage series Diary 1968 alone, its constant presence is such that all the works on display cannot but assume a political valence. PRAGUE - On August 21, 1968, ...

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hyperallergic.com
Thomas Archer Bata: My Childhood Holidays Were to Shoe...

Thomas Archer Bata is in charge of global marketing for the Bata shoe company, which has more than 5,000 stores in over 70 countries all around the globe. He is the only member of the Bata family working at the famous firm, which his...

Read more
www.radio.cz
Meda Mladkova and Her Priceless Art Collection

Meda Mládková is a Czech art collector who spent more than half of her life in exile, mostly in the United States. In 1968 she established a collection of Czech art which she brought to the US from behind the Iron Curtain.

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www.radio.cz
BBLA RECOMMENDS
Wednesday, October 3, 5:30 pm
New York's Little Bohemia
For much of first half of the last century, Manhattan’s “Yorkville” was an insular cluster of Central and Eastern European communities, principal among them Czech (Bohemian), Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn.

October 11-27
Oldrich and Bozena, the True Story
The story of love at first sight of the 11th century Duke Oldrich, who braved stout opposition for friend and foe alike to marry the exquisitely fair washerwoman Bozena. Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre at Jan Hus Presbytarian Church.

Tuesday, October 16, 7:30 pm
Zemlinsky, Janacek, Dvorak, and Their Muses
Performance by Zemlinsky Quartet, illustrated talk by Nicholas Chong. Love, requited or otherwise, can spark the creation of great music.

We are looking forward
to seeing you at our events.
BBLA is a not-for-profit organization established in 1891 in New York City as an umbrella organization for almost eighty Czech and Slovak immigrant organizations. The mission of BBLA is to preserve and support Czech and Slovak culture in New York City. BBLA's member organizations include American Fund for Czech and Slovak Leadership Studies, Association of Free Czechoslovak Sportsmen, Czech and Slovak Solidarity Council, Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America, Dvorak American Heritage Association and Sokol New York. BBLA is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.droppable-1520868403757droppable-1520868410177