Irena Havlová and Vojtěch Havel, the duo who make up The Havels, have been collaborating for more than fifteen years, making music that has been described as “a duet between violoncello and piano taking place in a cathedral of sound.” In truth their music encompasses even more, with the artists often incorporating Tibetan bowls, bells, harmoniums, gongs, silver cups and stones to create a distinct and experimental sound. In Marfa, The Havels performed using the extraordinary Renaissance instrument, the viola da gamba.

Havlová and Havel started working together in the mid-80s, in the experimental Capella Antiqua e Moderna ensemble, which won them both public and critical acclaim. The repertoire of that unique association of musicians spanned various styles of European classical music, ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary music. Within this context, Havlová and Havel developed an unorthodox approach to both historical and modern compositional techniques and interpretive procedures.

Since then, The Havels have collaborated intensively with many other leading Czech and foreign artists including Jiří Stivín, Czech jazz multi-instrumentalist of world renown; avant-garde drummer Alan Vitouš; and impulsive guitarist Tony Ackerman, as well as dancers Karel Vaněk and Eva Černá, painter Radek Pilař, and others.

The Havels are sometimes classified as belonging to a specific musical current, however, labeling their music as alternative, global, new acoustic, improvised, experimental, minimalist or meditative, means classifying it in categories that often fail to express its form and content. Their means of expression varies so much that attempts to verbally describe their musical dialogue fall short. The only thing that can be said with certainty is that The Havels always deliver highly poetic, enchanting music with absolute sincerity and unusual humbleness which carries a genuine peacemaking message.

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