Minutes of the committee meeting
Czech Handel Society, z.s. (hereinafter referred to as the Society),

Based on the video recording, compiled by Věra Alves and Jan Kučera (July 25–August 10, 2025)

Present:

Committee:
Jiří Janoušek – Chairman
Michal Typl – Technical Director

Guests:
Libor Hofman, Jindřich Chval and Jan Kučera, members of the Society, remotely connected Věra Alves (Várady) and Jana Míková, members of the Society.

Let us note that Jana Míková had problems with her microphone, so she heard everything, but she actively participated via chat. Michal Typl had technical problems with his car, so he arrived later. This partially changed the order of the items discussed.

Absent:

Jiří Filip – excused for serious family reasons.
Ivo Šindelář – obstacles occurred on the way to the meeting, which prevented him from arriving.
The remaining committee member did not report.

1. Internal pages of the Society

In connection with the delay of Michal Typl's arrival (the planned important programme items were delayed till he would arrive), this became the first, unplanned item on the agenda. It began with a non-binding debate, during which the late Josef Průcha was remembered; the question of his birthday was an opportunity for webmaster Jan Kučera to briefly present the newly established and already functional (although not yet fully completed) internal web pages of the Society, which include, among other things, an electronic database of membership cards. (Originally, he had planned to address these matters in the Miscellaneous section.) One of the output options is an(y) individual membership card in vector format HTML+SVG, which can be easily saved as PDF; another option was to create a simple table file (spreadsheet, Excel) with some data on individual members. Finally, the option of printing addresses on envelopes is also available.

He then demonstrated using his own example how the membership card of a former (inactive) member can be updated online and transferred to active members.

According to the online database of membership cards, the Society had 60 active members and 102 former members (including deceased members) at that time.

The Chairman of the Society asked Jan Kučera whether he had a list of members including contacts at that very moment, which Jan Kučera did not have at that time. He then assigned Jan Kučera the task of programming the pages as quickly as possible so that it would be possible to create a spreadsheet with a selection of a number of data, including date of birth and address and telephone/mobile connection. The file created in this way would then allow the members of the wider committee to analyze the individual members among themselves, contact them and activate them before the members' meeting. (Task completed on July 25^th, 2025. List in the form of an Excel file was sent to the extended-committee members.)

At the same time, Jan Kučera pointed out that also scans of the original membership cards existed and that he coud make them available to the members of the extended committee. The Chairman of the Society authorized him to do so. (Task completed on July 28, 2025. Given the huge size of the files, Jan Kučera shared them with the members of the extended committee on his Google Drive.)

To finally close the point regarding the internal website:

• During the meeting, Jan Kučera handed out access details to those present – Jiří Janoušek, Michal Typl and Libor Hofman (Věra Alves had already received them before).
• Jan Kučera pointed out that it would be necessary to enter information about the payments of membership fees into the database as soon as possible. This could be done by anyone with access to the internal website who would have the information from the Society's account statements at their disposal.
• Furthermore, Jan Kučera suggested that, together with the invitation to the Membership Meeting, each member could receive an electronic version of their membership card (including updated information on membership fee payments) with a request to update/supplement their personal data, or to receive it in printed form at the Membership Meeting!

During further discussions, Michal Typl was already present.

2. Preparation for the members' meeting

The Chairman pointed out that the members' meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 7^th, 2025, tentatively from 5:00 p.m. A month before the meeting, the members of the Society will need to be invited to the meeting in writing (by email). He himself will be on vacation from August 15^th to September 4^th, so there will not be much time for this.

Points to be resolved at the members' meeting

• Elections to the Society's committee. A very informal debate about suitable candidates took place during the meeting. Result: the following persons expressed preliminary approval for their candidacy (in alphabetical order by surname): Věra Alves (Várady), Jiří Janoušek, Jan Kučera, Jana Míková (Hegerová) and Michal Typl. Libor Hofman made it clear that he did not intend to run for the committee, but intended to continue to be “in the active core” and was ready for any work on graphic design. Jindřich Chval also offered (later during the meeting) to fulfill reasonable tasks.
• The chairman will propose an amendment to the statutes that will allow even remote connection to be considered valid participation in the assembly and to allow valid remote voting.
• The amount of membership fees will need to be set anew.
• Finally, Jan Kučera pointed out that membership cards are an anachronism and if they are somewhere in the statutes, they should be canceled.

Provision of space for the members' assembly; exact time

The size of the space needed depends on the number of participants, which in turn depends on the number of members. Given that the number of active members is 60, but many of them will probably not attend the meeting in person, are busy, have a long way to go, etc., a realistic estimate of the number of participants for whom seating needs to be provided is around 30. The chairman instructed Věra Alves and Michal Typl to contact Mr. Petr Tylínek and to find out whether it would be possible to rent space for the given purpose at the Elpida center in Prague 7, where he regularly lectured, and whether it had the necessary capacity and possibly the necessary equipment (large screen, fast internet available). (Both completed the task at the turn of July and August; it turned out that the premises in the Elpida center did not have sufficient capacity. Věra Alves then managed to secure the Meeting hall of the capital city of Prague in the building on Mariánské náměstí for the members' assembly.)

Furthermore, the time of the meeting was firmly set. After the debate, the meeting participants came to the conclusion that the provisionally set time of 5:00 p.m. was a good choice and that the meeting would be held on Tuesday, October 7^th, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. (Venue of the meeting – additionally added by the minutes takers – Prague City Hall, City Hall Meeting Hall, Prague 1, Mariánské nám. 2/2)

Ensuring attendance at the membership meeting

The Chairman pointed out that due to the need to achieve the quorum, it was necessary to contact all active members of the Society, draw their attention to the importance of the membership meeting and convince them to come. The extended committee, and possibly other active volunteers from the Society, will divide the active members of the Society among themselves as soon as possible (each one will focus on those they know personally), will contact them personally and invite them to participate in the members' meeting. Alternatively, if they are unable to attend, they will invite them to authorize someone to vote. At the next committee meeting, everyone will present the following information:

• List of members with whom they are in contact
• For each member on this list, whether they have invited him/her
• Whether they will come to the Assembly
• If not, whether they will authorize him/her (or someone else)

The Chairman promised to make a template of a valid power of attorney available.

Activation of former members before the members' assembly

The Chairman pointed out that over the years a number of members have left the Society due to personal disagreements with the long-standing chairman Pavel Polka. It is to the detriment of the Society that these people, in many cases interested and truly active, remain outside. The Chairman therefore called on the extended committee, or other active members, to try to reach out to these people to see if they would like to return to the Society.

Non-payment of membership fees

According to the (still unupdated since Mr. Polka's death) non-public database, which is now online, a number of members last paid their fees in 2023. The Chairman recommends that a kind of ‘general pardon’ be declared until the meeting. At the meeting, where, among other things, the amount of membership fees for the future will be determined, these ‘sinners’ will be invited to pay their fees.

3. Other activities

The Chairman reported on his own activities and the activities of the Society since the last committee.

The Chairman's contacts with Dr. Bystrík Bugan

Bystrík Bugan, Dr.iur.utr., is an active member with a number of ideas and thoughts regarding the Society's activities in the future.

Dr. Bugan also brought a promising potential reviewer for the Society's website, Mr. Lukáš M. Vytlačil.

Festival in Znojmo

The performance of Julius Caesar in Znojmo was attended by at least 5 members of the Society, in addition to our member, maestro Roman Válek, and one more member of the orchestra. Before the performance on July 12^th, the Chairman met with the festival president Jiří Ludvík and they discussed possible cooperation, including the promotion of the Znojmo festival in Halle and the connection with the festival there.

Meeting of the Chairman with Dr. Jan Baťa from the Institute of Musicology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University and with Dr. Magdalena Turchichová

The meeting was successful, bringing contact with Dr. Magdalena Turchichová ['turkɪkɔˌvɑ:], who in her PhD thesis dealt with Handel's reception in the nineteenth century.

Subsequent meeting with Dr. Turchichová was also successful, we quote the chairman of the Society: “We have arranged another meeting with Dr. Turchichová in September after she returns (from leave?), she should think about how she would conceive the cooperation, but the overall tone in principle was positive. She was pleased that someone was interested, that someone wanted it and was seriously considering her giving a lecture. And that she could actually elaborate on the archive treasure a little with the help of the Society. Yes, we got to such an interesting fact that Smetana conducted Handel's oratorios in the nineteenth century, that all this can be rigorously documented and that in fact there is space for Bohemian Handelology, as far as the reception is concerned,…”

4. The task completion check (concernig the previous two meetings)

• Libor Hofman was supposed to check whether there were any packages in the house where Pavel Polka lived and at the local post office. The task was completed shortly after it was assigned and repeatedly on July 24th – there is nothing there and they don't know about anything there either. After the debate, the Chairman decided that there was no need to continue this matter.
• Attendance at the Znojmo festival. Task successfully completed, see the Chairman's report in point 3.
• Further travel tasks of the Chairman of the Society – Innsbruck, Bayreuth – relate to the (near) future.
• Organization of the November stay in Italy – will, as usual, be resolved just before it becomes relevant.
• The Technical Director will contact the owner of the house where Mr. Polka lived. The Technical Director will try to arrange with Mr. Tylínek about a room for the membership meeting. Find out the condition of the room and whether there is an internet connection, which we could use, and possibly a large HD TV. The task remains but is modified – he will search for a room in collaboration with with Věra Alves.
• The chairman, in collaboration with the other members of the extended committee, will ensure contacting and activating the membership before the members' meeting. As part of this activity, they will also try to reach out to former members who had left the Society at their own request. The task remains for the future
• Jan Kučera will scan the membership forms and convert them into electronic form. Both completed. The internal website is not yet fully completed, but it is already functional and can be used practically.
• Libor Hofman and Michal Typl will ensure the successful course of the visit to Znojmo. Completed.
• The chairman will resolve the unresolved situation with the revenue office, now in Prague 6. Not yet completed, this is a longer-term task.
• The chairman will start preparing a draft amendment to the statutes (including the possibility of remote connection and voting) and preparing an invitation to the Members' Assembly. Not yet completed, this is a longer-term task, work is ongoing.
• Ongoing task for the webmaster: Setting up a Facebook profile. Jan Kučera has not yet completed this task, he was fully occupied with programming the internal website and transferring data to it and had no time for anything else.
• Task for the webmaster: the date of death of Mrs. Hana Jakubcová has been determined (March 26, 2025). Add to the website. Completed.
• Task for the webmaster: on July 17, kindly notify the members of the extended committee by e-mail of the tasks for July 24, 2025. Completed.

Unfulfilled tasks from the previous committee, even if not listed in this list, remain valid.

5. Brief overview of new/newly assigned tasks

• Michal Typl, newly in cooperation with Věra Alves, will contact Mr. Tylínek in the context of securing space for the members' assembly, see point 2. Inform the Chairman by August 4, 2025 (task completed at the turn of July and August).
• Jan Kučera will create a spreadsheet with a selection of data on individual members, see point 1 (completed on July 25, 2025).
• Jan Kučera will make scans of the original membership lists available to the members of the extended committee (completed on July 28, 2025).
• The extended committee, or and other active volunteers from the Society, will divide the active members of the Society among themselves as soon as possible (each one will focus on those they know personally), will contact them personally and invite them to attend the members' meeting. If necessary, if they cannot come, they will ask them to authorize someone to vote. See point 2.
• The Chairman promised to prepare a template of a valid power of attorney. See point 2 (it is not a task, only a promise).
• The Chairman invited the extended committee, or other active members, to try to contact former members to see if they want to return to the Society. For more details, see point 2.

6. Next meeting of the Society's committee

The next meeting of the committee will be held at the AK Janoušek Headquaters on Tuesday, September 16^th, 2025 (St. Ludmila day) at 6:30 p.m..

7. Miscellaneous

Michal Typl asked when the photos from Znojmo would appear on the website. Jan Kučera apologized to everyone, he was really busy preparing the internal pages. He will put the photos there as soon as possible (it happened on July 31, 2025).

Michal Typl suggested that it would be appropriate for the (new) chairman to specifically contact prominent members of the Society (maybe in person), such as Roman Válek or Václav Luks, and to inform them of the news in the Society.

Jan Kučera pointed out that the Society currently has only one honorary member, maestro Nicholas McGegan – it would perhaps also be appropriate to contact him. At the same time it might be appropriate if the Society offered honorary membership to meritorious prominent Czech personalities…