On Thursday, June 18, the CCMH brought the community together to watch Czechia and South Africa play against one another. The volunteers of the CCMH worked to ensure the fans did not go hungry, with plenty of snacks laid out. Meanwhile, they also enjoyed staple beverages that sports fans all over the world enjoy, that being beer, among other drinks to cool hotly passionate fans!
At the end, the Czechs and South Africans tied 1 to 1. Still, spirits were high at this watch party!
On Monday, June 8, the Ambassador to the United States of Czech Republic Miloslav Stašek was warmly welcomed with a reception in his honor at the Czech Center Museum Houston. As he is leaving his position, held since September 2022, this reception honored his work and integration among the Czech community in Houston.
From May 29 to 31, Czech teachers from all over North America, including from Canada, came together in Houston, at the Czech Center Museum Houston for the 14. výroční konferenci českých škol v Severní Americe, or 14th Annual conference of Czech Schools in North America. Among the socializing and delicious cuisines, these teachers came to learn from one another about preserving and upholding the Czech language and traditions though the youth of tomorrow. Homework assignments and books among books were poured over, ideas shared, as our guests enjoyed what Houston had to offer!
Before the conference, the Czech teachers visited Space Center Houston, enjoying the history and Houston’s groundbreaking involvement in space travel!
We’d like to that the volunteers at the CCMH for their work in bringing this important conference together. We’d also like to thank the Czech teachers!
On Saturday, May 9, the local Czech community, family, and friends all came to the Czech Center Museum Houston to witness the opening reception of “Celebration of Spirit,” a exhibition brought together by the generosity of philanthropist, painter, photographer, artist, and major friend and donor to the CCMH Clarice Snokhous. This is absolutely not to mention the esteemed curator, Yvanamor Palix, and her assistants! Also involved in ensuring the opening reception was a hit was the ever-persistent Nancy Braus! In addition, we can’t forget to thank the volunteers who made the show run without a hitch and a memorable experience.
This Saturday, April 11, the Annual Spring Festival commenced! The sun shone through the cloudy sky, allowing the dogs to show off their obedience and a few tricks, while children braided the Maypole, to their best effort, and ladies and gentlemen persevered with a jug in their hands.
On the first floor, our Community Partners took center stage! We would like to thank the Czech Heritage Society of Texas, Hermann Park Conservancy, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Revival Dog Training, and Writers in the Schools for being a part of our community this Saturday.
On the inside, in the Prague Hall, live Czech music played as attendants shopped, with our vendors, and ate delicious, Czech meals and treats, the latter courtesy of the Country Store! Spirited games of Trivia also took place in the Comenius Library, where many winners were chosen and given prizes.
We look forward to next year!
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the FotoFest biennial, Czech Center Museum Houston presented a large cross-section of Jan Reich’s work.
Jan Reich, one of the last classic proponents of Czech photography, relentlessly photographed the history and architecture of his childhood Prague, hauntingly picturesque Bohemian landscape, and finally historical and religious landmarks of his nave Czech Republic. Drawing on the rich history of early 20th century Czech photography, Reich was inspired to document the obvious and hidden beauty of his surroundings.
Remarks were given by Igor Malijevsky and Tom Van de Ven.
This February 27, the Moravian band Harafica wowed and captivated an excited audience at the Czech Center Museum Houston! Many hope for their return!
A young group born in the heart of Moravian Slovakia, Harafica ranks among the best bands to listen to in the Czech Republic. Led by experienced cimbalom player and music director Petr Gablas and lead violinist Martin Melichárek, this charismatic group has earned recognition on the domestic front, gaining many fans among Czech audiences.
Although firmly rooted in folk music, their music-making and projects stretch much further, and they don't shy away from mixing both modern and classical music either. The result is a fusion of overlapping genres and the band’s own compositions. An evening with Harafica is a one-of-a-kind experience filled with folk and traditional tunes and a cocktail of genres including cinematic, modern, and world music.
This February 10, famed chef and cookbook author Evie Harbury visited the Czech Center Museum Houston as a part of her tour through the United States. Not only did she sign copies of her book, My Bohemian Kitchen, for esteemed readers, but she also answered pressing questions and gave a talk about her experiences and her book to a captive audience!
We’d like to thank both Evie Harbury and our guests for attending the CCMH!
This February 7, distinguished, festive guests arrived to attend the Masupust Ples, or Winter Ball. They danced the night away under the chandeliers, enjoying their memorable evening with fine food, live music, and winter elegance with the vibrant community that the Czech Center Museum Houston fosters.
On Saturday, January 10 and Saturday, January 17, artist and architect Helen Peter visited the Czech Center Musuem Houston to teach 10 esteemed students the very basics of art and drawing!
Everyone brought their sketchbooks and pencils to begin the journey of becoming hobby artists. The goals were to learn how to handle and draw with pencils, introducing and building muscle memory, visualize and utilize the dark to light range in values, struggle with hatching, revisiting and recontextualizing shapes, weighing line variations, in addition to other basic skills and fundamentals. The student artists also tested their mettle against fruits and vegetables as still life.
On Friday, December 5, we celebrated the Bohuslav Martinů’s 135th birthday with compositions compositions from two important periods of his life, his pre-WWII years in Paris and years in the United States.
This program included a Sonatina for Clarinet & Piano, Three Madrigals for Violin & Viola, Songs on Moravian Folk Poetry, and a Quartet for Clarinet, Horn, Piano & Side Drum. The evening concludes with La Revue de Cuisine featuring violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, and piano.
Performers on this program included members of the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony, and music faculty members from the University of Houston, the University of Kansas, and Sam Houston State. The performers were Robert Walzel (clarinet), Randall Adams (trumpet), Amber Archibald-Sešek (viola), Nathan Cloeter (horn), Christian McGee (piano), Terry McKinney (side drum), Tali Morgulis (piano), Martin Nedbal (moderator), Benjamin Rorabaugh (piano), Whitney Wells Rorabaugh (soprano), Scott Walzel (bassoon), Bing Wei (cello), and Kirsten Yon (violin).
This Wednesday, October 29, we capped off our Czech Heritage Month celebration!
The Apollo Chamber Players, consisting of players Anabel Ramirez and Matthew J. Detrick, Aria Cheregosha, and Matthew Dudzik, along with the Evergreen Quartet, consisting of players Osako and Claire Loggenberg, Drayden Johnson, and Rashaud Lawrence, performed for an emotional, captive audience in the Czech Center Museum Houston’s Prague Hall.
On October 11, the book club had a hearty discussion about Bohumil Hrabal’s All My Cats. This is the last book club meeting for the year. We want to thank Robert Cremins for his time and our club for theirs. We would also like to thank the volunteers who made the book club what it is, we could not have done it without you!
On October 4, the Czech Center Museum Houston, along with several esteemed and generous guests, celebrated Vaclav Havel’s birthday with Jazz and a smorgasbord of food, lovingly brought and prepared by volunteers and dedicated board members of the museum. Many guests were even generous enough to adopt new tables for our museum, and we thank them for their generous contribution!
The jazz group is Silk Road, featuring Clayton Dyess, Vlad Morakhovsky, Victor Delagarza, Bob Antonoff. We thank them for their time at the Czech Center!
This September 30, to kick off Czech Heritage Month, viewers watched a rather Czech film called The Gardener’s Year (Zahradníkův rok) at the River Oaks Theatre!
On Saturday, September 27 the music group Kyjov Mladá Muzika Šardice, composed of singers, musicians, and dancers young and old, entertained strongly at the Czech Center. Many attended the festive and energetic concert and may have even danced! We want to thank the group, our guests, and our volunteers and staff for bringing this celebration of Czech culture together!
On September 6, book club attendees discussed Bohumil Hrabal’s Closely Watched Trains. This discussion was once again lead by Robert Cremins, who will lead the final discussion, concluding with Hrabal’s All My Cats.
A video of the discussion can be found in the Sessions Recording page.
Additionally, whether they previously attended the book club or not, additional attendees watched the film adaptation of the book on September 12.
On September 6, the summer interns at the Czech Center Museum Student demonstrated their hard work from the last 3 months, which is now permanently displayed on the museum’s third floor, which reopened for the event! The open house was visited by many, including the interns’ parents!
This 2025, from August 15 to September 15, the Czech Center held its first Slovakia Through Your Eyes Contest!
There were not many submissions but everyone received was spectacular!
This July 25, 2025, the museum unveiled Tempus Fugit II, a traveling photographic exhibition by Dano and Jana Veselský which captures the Broumov group of Baroque churches, an exceptional ensemble of sacred architecture nestled in the northeastern Bohemian countryside.
Tempus Fugit II not only showcases the architectural beauty of these spiritual landmarks, but also documents the efforts to preserve and restore them for future generations.
On July 25, the photographers gave a beautiful lecture on opening night about their experience and efforts. We would like to thank Dano and Jana for their time at the CCMH.
