Minutes of the meeting of the committee of the
Czech Handel Society, registered association

Based on the video recording, compiled by: Jan Kučera (June 26–30, 2025)

Present:

Committee:
Jiří Janoušek – chairman
Michal Typl – technical director

Guests:
Jan Kučera, member of the ČHäS, Věra Várady, member of ČHäS, joined remotely (Zoom)

Absent:

Jiří Filip - excused due to urgent family reasons.
The remaining two committee members did not report.

Agenda of the meeting:

• Welcome to all present, opening remarks
• Chairman's report on activities since the last committee meeting
• List of members, membership lists, date of the members' assembly and date of the next committee meeting
• Extended committee
• Information of those present on how they are fulfilling or not fulfilling their tasks
• List of new tasks
• Miscellaneous

1. Welcome of all present, opening remarks

Jiří Janoušek, chairman, after the formal welcome, pointed out to all present that unfortunately the committee failed to achieve a quorum, so the meeting will be a normal (working) meeting. Fortunately, nothing will need to be formally approved.

Jan Kučera, pointed out that all committee members should install and learn how to use Zoom, so that in a situation where circumstances exceptionally prevent them from physically arriving at the committee, they can at least be connected remotely.

2. Chairman's report on activities since the last committee meeting

As for the main part, it will be appropriate to give the floor directly to the chairman:

“So, my committee and membership! Since the last meeting, my basic task was to go to Halle, which we had arranged in advance, to represent and follow up well there. So I would say that it was a success. We were in Halle with my dear aging parents and I was at the members' meeting of the International Handel Society. You can read the address that I delivered there (on the website). I think it was well received, so then during the ecumenical service and in the evening people addressed me, so they registered the continuity – that we are here and that we carry on after Pavel's death. There was a very nice minute of silence for Pavel, including the recitation of his biography. That was moving. So I have to say, I had control my emotions and that is a great honor for them. They did that very nicely and I thanked them for it in that address.
Then I spoke to Professor Hirschmann, the chairman of the International Handel Society, and I specifically asked him about his opinion on what Ivo Šindelář was actually presented. If, since we don't have a professional ‘Handelologist’, we should dissolve or rename ourselves. And he told me that he didn't think so, that Ivo sees it too narrowly and that the really scientific society, which he chairs as a ‘Handelologist’, is the one in Halle. Nevertheless, the remaining two German societies, i.e., Göttingen and Karlsruhe, don't have and may not have the scientists who would conduct some university Handel research.
At the same time, Dr. Negri, Eleonora Negri from Florence, introduced herself and said that in Italy they want to establish a Handel Society in Florence. It fit well with the theme of Young Handel, which was the theme of this year's festival - so wouldn't it be a shame if they were establishing a Society in Italy and we were cancelling it here. So I understand that it is certainly not my task as chairman for the time being, but that is how I presented it truthfully to Professor Hirschmann and he said that if we requested it, he would give it to us in writing.
In Halle, first of all, I joined the Halle Society as an individual. I entered the Czech Handel Society as a corporate member and I paid 2 × EUR 40 straight away. As far as our members who were also members there and received the Jahrbuch for a hundred a year were concerned, it was tactfully suggested to me that this period of supporting poor Eastern countries was over. Furthermore, some members suggested that free tickets, an established practice during Pavel's life, somehow in function out of inertia, would't work anymore. I told them that I didn't want anything for myself. But that if there were any options, that not all our members are financially strong. And so that we wouldn't kill it completely. There was an indistinctive polite reaction to that.
I followed up with some emails, I have them written, I didn't get around to revising and sending them. I would like to take today's committee as an incentive to send them tomorrow.
As for the Händel-Jahrbuch, I have one, one is with Michal Typl. If anyone wants it, I'll be happy to pass it on. At the same time, Professor Hirschmann had an anniversary, for which a Festschrift (»Und alle Sphären klingen«, Bärenreiter BVK04033) was prepared, so it could be bought there for EUR 80. I bought it with private money, it was such a courtesy.
At the same time, I would like to join – it is possible to have such a ‘triple-Handel’ membership in German societies, then for a lower amount. I would do it privately. I would like to know the opinion of the committee when we know the amount required, whether our society should also join the other two societies for a reduced membership fee. I personally think so.
I also spoke briefly with my American colleagues, with Donald Burrows very briefly, but we followed up in various ways. We have an offer from Mrs. Annette Landgraf that if we need it, she can give us a mention in the Handel Yearbook.”

“As for other legal tasks, such as: co-opting and registering the chairman, we did that; we got access to the bank account; we have validly changed the registered office address. So the basis, the fact that we can somehow continue now, the, I would say, official administrative matters, I think we have managed those using our legal expertise. And the task that makes it logical to complete this is: to decently and validly convene a members' assembly, which must be take place this year, because the mandate ends and the co-opted member's mandate clearly also ends at the end of 2025, so to hold elections for the period 2026–2030."

Jiří Janoušek further spoke about his further plans, regarding the preparation of the members' meeting, contacting the Department of Musicology at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University (a.o., Dr. Jan Baťa) regarding possible interest in cooperation among students, the performance of Julius Caesar in Znojmo, where 6 members of the Czech Chamber Orchestra plan to participate, and the upcoming interview with the festival director Ludvík, about the offer to promote the Znojmo festival at Handel festivals in Germany; in connection with the upcoming members' meeting, about cooperation with committee members in activating membership, and plans concerning Alcina and Agrippina in Brno.

3. List of members, membership forms, date of the membership meeting and date of the next committee meeting

Michal Typl brought the list of members, and in connection with this (and with the fact that some former members indicated that they would like to leave the committee after years of service) a debate began about possible future candidates for the committee. Jan Kučera had previously agreed to possibly become a candidate, stating that he intends to continue his current work for the Society, regardless of whether from the position of a committee member or just an active regular member (preferably not from the position of secretary or “director”).
Věra Várady offered to join the committee. She and her husband live in Spain for most of the year, they return to the Czech Republic regularly, and she would like to attend the Membership Meeting in October. Regarding her possible work for the Society, she said that she has been a writer all her life and that she could devote herself to popularizing Handel for a wider audience, “translating it into human language”. The chairman suggested that they could share this task with Jan Kučera. (This was not discussed at the committee, but Jan Kučera is preparing her own column on the website for Věra.)
Finally, a “financial director” is being sought. The job of treasurer or accountant is not for everyone. Michal Typl suggested that we try to reach out to Jana Míková (formerly Hegerová), a de facto founding member of the Society.

In this context, a suitable date and place for the membership meeting were discussed. Those present agreed that a suitable date is the first half of October, a weekday evening, preferably Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday – on the one hand, so that it does not disrupt the working day too much and so that it is not too late, especially for seniors or those who can arrive from more distant locations. The subsequent debate resulted in a suitable date for the members' meeting being Tuesday, October 7^th, 2025, tentatively at 5:00 p.m..

According to the Statutes, it is necessary to invite the membership to the members' meeting in writing no later than one month before it is held. Michal Typl suggested that it would be appropriate to send out some kind of informal invitation by a bulk email beforehand.

As for the venue, Michal Typl suggested contacting Mr. Petr Tylínek, who knows of a space in a senior center in Prague 7 (Holešovice). He promised to contact him and then go there if necessary, to see if the space was suitable for a member meeting. Jan Kučera also asked him to find out if they had fast internet connection there that we could use or whether he should provide his own solution (mobile internet, Teltonika). The main advantage would be the easy accessibility of this space by public transport.

Furthermore, Michal Typl brought the folder containing the member registration cards of the Society members, representing the main registration document of their membership in the Society. Jan Kučera offered to “process them somehow”. Although he does not have an abundance of free time, it will eventually be entered into the electronic database and he will be the one to do it anyway, so why do it twice when it is enough to do it once. He offered to scan the membership forms over the weekend and bring them to the chairman's office on Monday (task fulfilled in advance on June 26^th) and continue to work with the scanned material. Jan Kučera gratefully accepted the information from Michal Typl that there was rather enough time for this.

Jiří Janoušek came up with the idea of ​​whether it would not be worth contacting those who had left in the past at their own request to see if they would now like to return. Věra Várady supported him in this.

Furthermore, in connection with the membership cards, the amount of membership fees was discussed, but a final position was not reached (again).

At the end of this part, the date of the next committee meeting was discussed. After some coordination, it was decided that the next meeting of the ČHäS committee will be held at the AK Janoušek Headquaters on Thursday, July 24^th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.

4. Extended Committee

The so-called “broader” or extended committee consists of the committee + a group of active members who have been involved in the work for a long time. For the sake of clarity, the chairman has defined the term as follows (in alphabetical order by surname):

• Jiří Filip
• Jiří Janoušek
• Ivo Šindelář
• Ivana Tomková
• Michal Typl
• Libor Hofman
• Jan Kučera
• Jana Míková
• Věra Várady

5. A checklist of how those present have fulfilled or not fulfilled their tasks from the past Committee Meeting

• (The technical director will check whether there are any shipments in the documents from the estate or in what was in the mailbox in March when the apartment was cleared out.)
  Michal Typl – task fulfilled.
• (Libor Hofman will check the situation at the house where Pavel Polka used to live and at the local post office.)
  We do not know – Libor Hofman absent.
• (The technical director will then contact the owner of the house.)
  Not yet fulfilled, the task is tied to the fulfillment of the previous task.
• (In further discussion, Jan Kučera informed about access to the website. He can change the content, but does not have access to the administration. It is desirable to switch from free hosting to paid for security reasons, the https option, etc. (Jan Kučera offered to pay the hosting fees regularly.) Conclusion: Jan Kučera will ensure the necessary steps in cooperation with the chairman.)
  Jan Kučera, in cooperation with the chairman and his legal office, fulfilled the task, including the complicated internet-legal act of re-registering the domain.
• (Task for the chairman: Festival in Halle.
  The chairman reported on his communication with Prof. Wolfgang Hirschmann (President of the Internationale Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Gesellschaft) about his planned participation and that he will present himself at the Members' Assembly in Halle on 7th June. He will travel to Halle from Friday to Monday.)
  Jiří Janoušek – fulfilled (see above in these minutes).
  (In this context, an agreement with Libor Hofman about a name tag and business cards, the use of a new logo.)
  Libor Hofman – fulfilled.
• Other trips of the chairman
  • (Weekend after Halle – Dresden, Handel's Saul at the Semper Opera)
    Jiří Janoušek – fulfilled.
  • (On Saturday July 12th trip to Julius Caesar in Znojmo.)
    The task concerns the future.
  • (Planned trip to Innsbruck)
    The task concerns the future.
  • (Bayreuth Baroque in September at the Margrave's Theatre. The chairman has 4 free tickets at his disposal for the dress rehearsal before the premiere of the opera that is to be performed there. He could take three Handelians with him, he would count on it in the coming years.)
    The task concerns the future.
• (Continuing the tradition of November stays in Italy with the princess di Collalto e San Salvatore.)
  Responsible person not specified; task concerns the future.
• (Festival in Znojmo: Libor Hofman and Michal Typl will take care of the organization of the group and the car.)
  Libor Hofman and Michal Typl – fulfilled.
• (Task for webmaster: Setting up a Facebook profile)
  Jan Kučera – FAILED TO FULFILL THE TASK WITHOUT APOLOGY!

6. List of new tasks

• Libor Hofman will check the situation at the house where Pavel Polka used to live and at the local post office.
• The technical director will then contact the owner of the house.
• The technical director will try to arrange a room for the members' meeting with Mr. Petr Tylínek, find out the condition of the room and whether there is an internet connection that we could use (and possibly a large TV with an HDMI plug).
• The chairman, in operational cooperation with the other members of the extended committee, will ensure that the membership is contacted and activated before the members' meeting. As part of this activity, they will also try to reach out to former members who have left the Society at their own request.
• Jan Kučera will scan the membership forms (completed on June 26) and convert them into electronic form.
• Libor Hofman, together with Michal Typl, will ensure the successful course of the visit to Znojmo.
• The chairman will resolve the unresolved situation with the financial office, now in Prague 6.
• The chairman will begin preparing a draft amendment to the statutes (including the possibility of remote connection and voting) and preparing an invitation to the Members' Assembly.
• Ongoing task for the webmaster: Setting up a Facebook profile.
• Task for the webmaster: the date of death of Mrs. Hana Jakubcová has been determined (March 26^th, 2025). Add to the website.
• Task for the webmaster: On July 17^th, friendly remind the members of the extended committee by e-mail about the tasks for July 24^th.

7. Miscellaneous

Jan Kučera is going to modernize the website structure a bit; since this will disrupt Pavel Polka's concept, he submits it to the committee and the chairman with a request for an opinion.

1. In the first level menu, create an item with the working title “About us” and move the current first level items II. Establishment and mission of the Society, III. Publishing activities, IV. Concerts and lectures, V. Projects, VI. Foreign relations, VII. Thematic tours there.
2. In the first level menu, create an item with the working title “Our Handeliana” and place there some news-oldies, which are important from the point of view of the Society's own activities, e.g. Electronic edition (PDF) of Pavel Polka's Handel monograph “Triumph of Time and Truth”, Second, revised and expanded edition of Pavel Polka's Handel monograph “Triumph of Time and Truth”, Jubilee publication “Czech Handel Society 1990–2020”, Bust of George Frideric Handel by sculptor Petr Novák.
3. Insert annotations into News for new articles within the pages, wherever they are buried in their structure.

The chairman and the present members of the committee approved this proposal.