Born in a small town near Prague, Antonín Dvořák is known to be one of the greatest Czech composers, noted for his attractive melodic compositions and the brilliance of his orchestration. At the age of 16, he studied at the Prague Organ School. There, he was introduced to the works of past great masters as well as to composers such as Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner.

In 1861, Dvořák joined the National Theatre in Prague as a violist. During this time, he wrote many compositions, but not achieve recognition until 1873 with a performance of his grand patriotic work Hymnus for chorus and orchestra. Composer Johannes Brahms later prevailed upon his publisher to print some of Antonín Dvořák’s works. Always composing an apparently effortless output of music, including Slavonic Dances in 1878, Antonín Dvořák soon became a professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory.

In 1884, following a series of trips to London to conduct his own music, he earned a commission to compose The Spectre’s Bride. In 1891, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Cambridge University, the same year he composed the popular Carnival overture. Following successful tours to Russia and Germany, Dvořák accepted an invitation in 1892 to become director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. In 1893, while in the United States, he wrote what is probably his most famous work, the Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, “From the New World.”

He returned to Prague in 1895, where he would later complete Rusalka, the ninth of his ten operas, in 1900. In it, he tells the familiar story of a water nymph who falls in love with a human prince. The following year, he became the director of the Prague Conservatory. He devoted his last years to working on an opera, Armida.

Despite the international recognition he had achieved, Dvořák lived in relative poverty as a result of unfavorable contracts with his music publishers. He died on May 1, 1904. A national day of mourning was declared and Dvořák was honored with a burial in Vysehrad Cemetery, where many prominent Czechs are also buried.

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Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Genesis Inspiration Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

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