One of the most commercially successful Czech bands of the 90's - the folk-punk-rock group Tri sestry (Three Sisters) - celebrated 15 years of existence October 17. They christened their new double-album 15 Years Hammered in the Smithy (Patnact let jsem na Kovarne na plech) in their pub The Old Branik Smithy (Na Stare Kovarne v Braniku), which paradoxically is not in Branik in Prague 4 but in Letna in Prague 6.
One of the CDs contains 27 hits, a remix of their song Mexiko, nine new tracks and three songs recorded live at their 15th anniversary concert, which took place this fall in Prague's Stvanice Stadium. The other CD (CD-ROM, to be exact) includes two videos and a large number of photos from the concert. A book on the band was also published.

* A series of concerts called Czech Composers at the Turn of the Millenium began this week. The series aims to introduce pieces by contemporary composers of classical music. The event will run till the end of April and it present earlier and new works by Petr Eben, Sylvie Bodorova, Jan Klusak and Czech-American Karel Husa.
* Seventy-two Czech publishers are represented at the International Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany. Fifty-five of them are taking part in the common Czech exhibit under the patronage of the company Bookworld (Svet knihy - www.bookworld.cz).
* Six new Czech translations of the Tibetan Dalai Lama's books were published during his stay in Prague at the Forum 2000 conference. His book Ethics for the New Millenium is closely connected to the topic of the conference. Among other books were The Road to Inner Peace and a selection of his quotations, Words of Wisdom.
* Vaclav Riedelbach, professor and head of the Composing Department at the Music School of Prague's Academy of the Arts, was named new general director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra after five years of provisional leadership from Jiri Kovar. Riedelbach will take office January 1.