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The Besední d!m is one of the most important buildings in Brno’s historic center. This cultural shrine was, among other things, the workplace of extraordinary composer and conductor Leo" Janá#ek.

Brno PhilharmonicA brilliant orchestraThe Brno Philharmonic has an illustrious history of music making, its beginnings dating back to the 1870s when its first predecessor, the amateur Czech Symphony Orchestra, was established under the auspices of Leo" Janá#ek and housed in the purpose-built Besední d!m, the present orchestra's magnificent home. Formed in 1956, the Brno Philharmonic has long been regarded as one of the best orchestras in this country.The orchestra has collaborated with a number of distinguished conductors, including Karel Ancerl, Jiri Belohlavek, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, and Yehudi Menuhin, and has thrived on musical partnerships with a number of exceptional soloists: Yefim Bronfman, Rudolf Buchbinder, Elina Garanca, Sophia Jaffé, Wilhelm Kempff, Olga Kern, Gidon Kremer, John Lill, Johannes Moser, Julian Rachlin, Sviatoslav Richter, Fazil Say, and Eva Urbanova, to name but a few.

The Brno Philharmonic has often been labelled as Janá#ek's orchestra, and rightly so. Brno, where the composer lived and worked, has always been a lively centre for his music. Since its foundation in 1956, the ensemble has given well over three hundred performances of works by Janá#ek, at concerts both in the Czech Republic and abroad and has recorded Janá#ek's complete symphonic and cantata works. The Brno Philharmonic is an expert ensemble with music from all periods and has especial empathy with 20th century and new music.

ablazeRECORDSRecording with the Brno Philharmonic

The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra

The Besední d!m

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Brno, Czech RepublicOld world charm. Contemporary edge.BrnoBrno, Czech Republic is one of the oldest and most charming cities in Europe. Brno is the second largest city of the Czech Republic (Prague is the first one) and the cultural and administrative centre of the South Moravian Region. Brno has a thousand-year-old history and can offer services on the European level. It is a university town and a big part of its inhabitants can speak English, at least partly. Brno is not well discovered by tourists and you have therefore an opportunity to see a real life in the Czech Republic without crowds of tourists and overpriced services as it is usual in Prague.

Historic sightsBrno has a beautiful historic centre with historic sights from the 11th century, a large number of Baroque and Renaissance buildings.The dominant feature of Brno is a stone promontory called Petrov and the gothic Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul which is built on it.

Enjoy BrnoBrno offers plenty of opportunities of spending time pleasantly. You can savor the historic atmosphere of the Brno, taste the Czech beer and wine, go shopping, acquaint yourself with Czech culture and enjoy the night life.

Geography, climateBrno is situated in the central part of Europe, in the Czech Republic. Brno is an administrative and cultural centre of the South Moravian Region and the second largest city of the Czech Republic (Prague is the first one). Brno lies in a basin of the Svratka and Svitava rivers which is surrounded by forested hills from three sides.Climatic conditions are pleasant for recreation and living as well. The territory of Brno has a good natural circulation of air which ensures very high air quality. The average summer temperatures are about +18, 2°C. The average winter temperatures are about: -0, 6°C.

Brno, Czech Republic

ABLAZE RecordsOrchestral Masters SeriesThis project is aimed at supporting new voices in orchestral music and recording previously unreleased compositions with the superb Brno Philharmonic Orchestra.

Just so that you can have this in some context, the cost of recording your work is totally inclusive of everything from the beginning stages to the final CD issue and beyond. Let’s break the process down into stages:

PRE-PRODUCTION! Score vetting! Parts vetting! Score and parts shipping and

handling! Music copying (for occasional

duplications, not for score or parts copying, which is the responsibility of the composer)

! Orchestra contracting! Recording engineer team

contracting! Recording Producer contracting! Conductor contracting! Edit team contracting! Mastering engineer contracting! Recording venue hire! Recording technology hire

! Recording equipment hire! Additional musician contracts (if

required)! Contract preparation and

documentation! Liner note procurement (from

composers)! Composer biography

procurement (from composers)

! Composer headshot procurement

! Production planning (session planning, microphone placement, personnel and percussion lists, consults with music librarian, etc)

! Production scheduling

Mikel Toms conducts the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra for ABLAZE Records Orchestral Masters Series

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PRODUCTION! Rehearsal scheduling! Personnel rostering! Recording scheduling! Orchestral Librarian and Orchestra

Management! Production planning! Soundchecks ! Recording! Creation of notes on each orchestral 'take'! Troubleshooting! Conductor and orchestra administration liaison! Players union liaison

POST-PRODUCTION! Edit session scheduling and planning! Creation of edit lists ! Creation of Rough edits! Creation of Fine edits! Final Edits! Hard Drive transfers of final edits and all multi-

tracks! Mastering! Creation of artwork

• cover art• liner notes, bios and headshot layouts

• disc art• digital booklet design and layout• website design and layout

! Additional Mastering for iTunes! Manufacturing of CDs! Lodging of digital files and booklet on iTunes,

AMAZON MP3 and Naxos Music Library! Launch planning! Delivery of discs to composers! Delivery of discs to distributors (Albany Music

Distributors, Amazon.com, Super D OneStop, NAXOS of AMERICA, Inc. etc.)

! Delivery of discs to all classical radio stations in the US

! Delivery of discs to BBC (London) radio! Delivery of discs to ABC (Australia) radio! Delivery of discs to CBC (Canada) radio! Delivery of discs to other international radio

outlets! Delivery of discs to Music review magazines

(Gramophone, Fanfare, American Record Guide, BBC Music Magazine, etc.)

! Delivery of discs to Newspaper reviewers (New York Times, Guardian, LA Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Washington Post, etc.)

! Posting of reviews on ABLAZE Website

“An excellent job on everyone's part. Thank you so much for taking extra time and effort! It sounds ravishing! I'm so excited.” Lance Hulme (Orchestral Masters Vol. 1 Composer)

A recording processof excellence

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Orchestral Masters Vol. 1 DiscAvailable worldwide through Albany Music Distributors, NAXOS of AMERICA, iTunes and Amazon.com

Brno Philharmonic Orchestra Recording session with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra

Orchestral Masters Vol. 1 DiscAvailable worldwide through Albany Music Distributors, NAXOS of AMERICA, iTunes and Amazon.com

Brno Philharmonic Orchestra Recording session with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra

For all of the above services we charge an all-inclusive rate per minute of finished recorded music based on the specifications of your score up to a 70 piece orchestra.

There are no additional charges to this and we are confident that you will not find the combination of quality and comprehensive service for your music at any other label for this price. You also retain ownership of your music and of the recorded master for any subsequent use.

We look forward to hearing from you further and please let us know if we can answer any further questions about any aspect of this production.

A production teamof dedication and care

“I’m very pleased with the results, in both the performance and the production. I consider it an investment well spent and will definitely apply for other Ablaze projects in the future.”Paul Siskind(Orchestral Masters Vol. 1 Composer)

Left: Maestro Mikel TomsBelow: Ablaze Records Producer Douglas Knehans

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See Our Discs

ABLAZE Records Website

AMAZON.com

Orchestral Masters Vol. 1 on iTunes

ABLAZE Records on Soundcloud

At ABLAZE Records we value high quality audio and great performances because we are a company run by composers for composers. Our post-production team centers around our four-time GRAMMY award winning mastering engineer and our

meticulous and demanding approach to sound quality.

"Ablaze Records is ... dedicated to the recording, distribution and promotion of works by living composers. If this CD (Music of Life—Orchestral Masterworks of Karel Husa) is any indication, they certainly are poised to not only fulfill that mandate, but to do it right."

Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel, January 2012

An Award WinningPost-production team

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State of the Art RecordingABLAZE uses the industry standard Pyramix platform to record the most realistic and natural sound from the brilliant Brno Philharmonic

Mastering Suite ABLAZE uses a four time GRAMMY Award winning mastering engineer to produce discs of the highest sound quality.

DistributionWorldwide. Hard copy. Digital.

All ABLAZE Records discs are distributed worldwide in both hard copy CD format as well as in digital format.

Our hard copy distribution is handled by Albany Music Distributors, one of the largest US distributors of independent labels as well as worldwide through AMAZON.com and CDBaby.

Our digital distribution network is vast and managed by Naxos of America, through the Naxos Music Library giving ABLAZE penetration into key music libraries worldwide.

ABLAZE also utilizes the advantages of social media through dedicated Facebook, YouTube and Soundcloud pages as well as our comprehensive ABLAZE Records website.

Distribution of your music worldwide through ABLAZE.

DISTRIBUTION EVERYWHEREABLAZE takes pride in placing our discs in a huge variety of outlets worldwide. Our trusted partners at Albany Music Distributors, Super D Onestop and AMAZON.com ensure that no matter where you are in the world, ABLAZE Records can be found and purchased.

DIGITAL DONE RIGHTABLAZE puts enormous care into the preparation of digital files prior to placement on our premiere distribution services. Whether in terms of our meticulous and demanding attention to sound quality, or in our detailed and artistic planning and execution of our beautiful digital booklets, ABLAZE does digital right.

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Brno, Czech RepublicComposers are invited to attend sessions

DISTANCES TO BRNOPrague - 200 km/120 milesVienna - 110 km/68 milesBratislava - 120 km/75 milesBudapest - 320 km/200 miles

GETTING TO BRNOBrno AirportBrno has a small airport 7.5 kilometers from the city centre. The principal airline to use the airport is Ryan Air which operates a daily service from Stansted Airport near London in the UK. There are also several daily connecting flights from Prague Vaclav Havel Airport as well as other European cities.

From PragueThere are many flights each day to Prague Vaclav Havel Airport from many airports worldwide. There are regular bus and train services between Prague and Brno. The train journey is approximately 2.5 hours and the bus journey is 1.5 - 2 hours. Some of the principal airlines flying to Prague from the UK are RyanAir, EasyJet, British Airways, Thomson Fly and BMI Baby.

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From Vienna & BratislavaThere are direct trains from both Vienna and Bratislava to Brno. Train journey times vary but are generally around 1 hour and 40 minutes.

STAYING IN BRNOBrno has a range of quality accommodation from inexpensive hotels to quite refined. We suggest searching on bookings.com to locate accommodation just right for you.

ABLAZE Records is dedicated to composer input for all of the recording sessions—we are keen to capture your work as you imagine it! The very best way to do this is to have composer input to the actual recordings themselves as they are being made.

Source Live is a live streaming technology that delivers CD quality audio direct to the computer in your home or office. Remote monitoring can even happen on a smart phone or tablet device.

Through Source Live you can virtually be there in the studio as your work is being recorded. The stream that is delivered to your computer is a line taken directly from the mixing board—what you hear is what the engineers and producer in Brno hears.

We have secured this technology to ensure that we can collaborate as closely as possible with the composers every step of the way.

“I am excited about the recording; it sounds excellent and the bells at the end are very clear and distinctive. Mikel was also so accurate!The piece has already more than 200 listeners on Soundcloud and a lot of them congratulated me.”Spiros Mazis (Orchestral Masters Vol. 1 Composer)

Can’t travel to Brno?Monitor your session remotely

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Source Live ABLAZE Records has established the ability to monitor your recording as it happens through Source Live technology

APPLY NOW!

Simply visit this website and submit all of your materials on-line!:

https://ablazerecords.submittable.com/submit

We hope very much to hear from you and to possibly working with you to record your symphonic music.

Please also browse our website:

http://www.ablazerecords.net

And follow us on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AblazeRecords

Janá#ek String Quartet composer’s sketch

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