Antonín Vepřek (1907-1978)

He was born on 24 December 1907 in Úmonín near Kutná Hora. His extraordinary musical abilities led him to study at the teachers' institute in Kutná Hora, where violin playing and music teaching were given considerable attention. After graduation he worked in Litoměřice. After the occupation in 1939, he left the occupied border region with his wife and daughter for Příbram, where he again found employment as a teacher. He began to play the cello in the Příbram Philharmonic Orchestra and took over the leadership of the Lumír-Dobromila singing group. Both societies provided the town's inhabitants with rich cultural activities. As early as June 1939, he introduced the public to the choir of pupils of the burgher girls' school, which then began to reap success on the radio.

Later he taught at the II. In his spare time he devoted himself to choirmaster work. Under his direction and with the piano accompaniment of Jiřina Mandová, the Příbram Children's Choir became a household name. In 1967 he became the director of the IV. Příbram Secondary School. He retired in 1971, but continued teaching music and directing the choir, with which he participated in competitions, recorded for radio and organised many concerts. The choir's repertoire was constantly renewed and supplemented with compositions by contemporary composers. Antonín Vepřek died on 13 January 1978.

The written estate has been stored in the State District Archive in Příbram since 1980 and documents Vepřek's pedagogical, choirmaster and organizational activities. It also contains correspondence with important personalities from various areas of Czech culture, posters and programmes for concerts of the Příbram Children's Choir from 1943 to 1977.

Source: The written estate of Antonín Veprek. The State District Archive Příbram, 1981.

Processed by: PhDr. Věra Smolová, Director of SOA Příbram