CESNET celebrated its 30th anniversary with a concert without borders

The musicians performed Divenire and Experience by renowned Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi. The works was performed by a sextet consisting of Xiaowen Chang (piano, Royal Academy of Music), Soyoung Choi and Théo Salaris (violin and bass, Conservatorium van Amsterdam) and Anton Čonka, František Jelínek and Šimon Marek (violin, viola and cello) in Prague.

This is not a pre-recorded video or a "safe" hybrid version, which usually combines live performance with pre-recorded tracks. The performers play their parts in real time from different European cities, but technology gives the audience the impression of a joint performance on one stage. "MVTP technology transmits both image and sound with minimal latency, which is key to synchronizing musicians playing a joint composition from different corners of the world. The solution is already being used for distance learning and collaboration by more than twenty arts institutions in fifteen European countries. The anniversary concert showcased the technology in its most visible application – in front of an audience and outside the usual academic environment," added Sven Ubik, Head of the Network Applications Technology Department at CESNET.

The arrangements for the anniversary concert were prepared by the UNQ agency specifically so that the entire project would function as a single compact whole, even though the players were hundreds of kilometers apart. Ondřej Urban was responsible for sound, and Alexandr Vojta took care of camera work and editing.

Biography of musicians:

Anton Čonka is a member of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra and first violinist of the Unique Quartet string ensemble. He studied at the conservatory in Košice under Professor K. Petróczi and at the Prague Conservatory under Professor P. Kudelásek. A winner of the Václav Hudeček Academy, the Ivan Ball Festival, the Josef Muzika violin competition and the competitions of Czech and Slovak conservatories.



František Jelínek is a member of the National Theatre Orchestra in Prague. He studied at the Prague Conservatory with Milan Řehák and at the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU) with Lubomír Malý. Winner of the Beethoven's Hradec competition, award for the best performance of Beethoven's work, winner of the Interlaken music competition, collaboration with the Tokyo String Quartet.



Šimon Marek is a cellist, member of the string ensemble S.V.A. Trio, founder and manager of the music agency Unique Art Agency and the projects Unique Quartet, Unique Orchestra, and Unique Duo. He studied with Professor Jan Vychytil, at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory with Jan Keller, and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of cellist Mikael Ericsson. As a cellist, he collaborates with leading artists, producers, and groups on the Czech music scene across genres in concerts, recordings, and music videos. He collaborates with music groups including Chinaski, Lucie, Mirai, Lake Malawi, and also with producers Jan Steinsdörfer, Viliam Béreš, Ondřej Fiedler, Lukáš Chromek, and Igor Ochepovský.



Xiaowen Chang is a versatile pianist and harpsichordist with a passion for early, classical, and contemporary music. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London under the guidance of Joanna MacGregor.   Some of her past accolades include winning the First Prize in the Jacob Barnes Award with her trio, Temporal Harmonies Inc., the First Prize at the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Senior Intercollegiate Competition, along with the Beethoven Medal, the First Prize in the WCOM Harriet Cohen Bach Competition and the First Prize of 2025 Prix Annelie de Man in the Netherlands. Xiaowen has played at prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Brighton Dome. She has also appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at numerous festivals, including the Brecon Festival, Petworth Festival, and Dartington Festival. She has been nominated as one of BBC Music Magazine’s Rising Stars of 2024.

SoYoung Choi is a violinist performing across Europe, Asia, and the United States. She has appeared as soloist with major Korean orchestras, including the Seoul Philharmonic, Bucheon Philharmonic, and Daejeon Philharmonic. She has given solo recitals at the Daejeon Cosmopolitan Music Festival and the Music Festival of Ludwig van Beethoven. Her performances have taken place at venues such as Jordan Hall in Boston, the Ceramic Palace Chamber Music Series, the Heredium Summer Music Festival Series, and the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Canada. She has participated in festivals including Musikdorf Ernen, the Schiermonnikoog Festival, and Yellow Barn. Choi received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory under Miriam Fried and Donald Weilerstein. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music, with Mark Steinberg of the Brentano Quartet, and also a Master’s degree in Early Music at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Théo Salaris is a French double-bass player studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the class of Naomi Shaham and Olivier Thiery with a minor in violone taught by Margaret Urquhart. Before that, he graduated with high honours in the Conservatorium of Douai, studying 3 years in the class of Christophe Dinaut (Radio-France principal bass).