News


We invite you to the concerts of the 31st International Organ Festival at St. James Basilica

We cordially invite you to the concerts of the 31st International Organ Festival. The opening concert will take place on Thursday, August 6, featuring French organists Marie-Ange Leurent and Eric Lebrun. The following concerts will feature Jan Rotrekl (Czech Republic), Jens Korndörfer (USA), Eric Chan and Chrysoberyl Chan (Hong Kong), Irena Chřibková and Robert Kozánek (Czech Republic), Jakub David Smešný (Czech Republic), Bernadetta Šuňavská (Slovakia), and Vincent Dubois (France). A brief overview of all concerts can be found in the following information leaflet, detailed programs for all concerts on the website Audite Organum, or on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/aomvf. All concerts feature a video projection, allowing the audience to watch the organist play directly on the screen via cameras.


During the Night of Churches on May 29, 2026, approx. CZK 16,000 was raised.

The main theme of the evening on Friday, May 29, 2026, as part of the traditional Night of Churches was the SAVING THE LARGEST CZECH ORGAN, and the program featured musical performances during which the great St. James Organ has resound. Jan Rotrekl and Irena Chřibková performed on the organ, and baritone Roman Janál sang; see Night of Churches 2026 at St. James Basilica or Organ concert at 7:15 PM and Organ concert at 8:45 PM. Each musical performance was followed by a tour of the large St. James Organ in the basilica’s choir loft, featuring commentary on the development of organs in general, the history of the St. James Organ, and the upcoming start of a major restoration project and the ongoing fundraising campaign to support it.

The basilica was visited by about 2,500 visitors, who contributed to the reconstruction with donations totaling approximately CZK 16,000. We sincerely thank all donors and look forward to meeting them again at our organ.


We have collected 18,110 CZK at benefit concert with Jaroslav Svěcený

Another benefit concert with Jaroslav Svěcený and his guests, actress Zdeňka Žádníková with accompanying words and original verses, pianist Jaromír Klepáč, and Veronika Smoljarová, the student at the International Conservatory in Prague playing the harp, took place on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. The titular organist of the Basilica of St. James, Irena Chřibková, plaied the large St. James organ. The concert featured compositions of J. S. Bach, A. Dvořák, A. Vivaldi, W. A. Mozart, B. Smetana, J. Svěcený a L. Vierne. After the concert, a guided tour of the organ in the choir loft of St. James’s Basilica took place.

The total proceeds from the concert were 18,110 CZK; the entire amount was deposited into a transparent public collection account for the organ’s restoration. We sincerely thank all donors and look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming benefit concerts.


The income of the endowment fund in 2025 amounted to CZK 517,349.67

During the calendar year 2025, CZK 423,136.33 was collected, of which a total of CZK 364,444.33 were direct donations from donors and CZK 58,692 was collected as part of organized benefit concert and the Night of Churches. We sincerely thank all donors for the donations sent to the Endowment Fund account or collected in cash as part of benefit events.

Together with the income from term deposits of CZK 95,671.34 and after deducting expenses of CZK 1,458, the total income of the endowment fund for the calendar year 2025 amounts to CZK 517,349.67. More detailed information can be found in Annual Report of the Endowment Fund for 2025 (in Czech).

Finally, we would like to remind Czech Republic tax residents that if you need a donation receipt for tax purposes, you must send a request to email SanctiJacobiOrganum@seznam.cz along with the necessary information (name and surname, permanent residence), without which the receipt cannot be created.


Request an award for your donation

Did you contribute to the restoration of the St. James´ organ and don’t have your award yet? Request it at the email SanctiJacobiOrganum@seznam.cz! The list of awards can be found at the page Awards.