Kantiléna is a select choir of children and young people at the Brno Philharmonic; its three sections are attended by around 150 singers aged 5 to 19. It was founded in 1956 as the Šlapanice Children’s Choir on the initiative of Ivan Sedláček, its later long-time artistic director. In 1967, it became a select ensemble with its current name, and since 1984 it has been associated with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and participates in its events.

Jakub Klecker was the choir’s director until the 2019/2020 season, and since September 2020, Michal Jančík has been the artistic director and principal choirmaster of Kantiléna. The children prepare for the demanding concerts of the main choir in the older preparatory choir Kantilénka, and the youngest in Magdalénka, named after former member and current patron of Kantiléna Magdalena Kožená. Magdalénka is led by Veronika Novosádová and Kantilénka is led by both choir directors together.

The vocal octet OctOpus Vocalis was founded in 2013, but most of its members have been singing together since childhood, when they met in the Kantiléna children’s choir in Brno. Since then, they have collaborated on many projects, whether in larger musical ensembles, chamber ensembles, or solo performances. Stylistically, the ensemble focuses primarily on music from older pre-classical periods and the classical repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries, seeking interesting thematic and musical connections between these historically distant poles. However, the program also includes compositions from other periods, and the ensemble occasionally ventures beyond the realm of art music into folk music, swing, and jazz. In addition to the a cappella compositions that form the basis of its repertoire, OctOpus Vocalis regularly collaborates with instrumentalists of various stylistic orientations (Jan Čižmář, Plaisirs de Musique, Brno Contemporary Orchestra, etc.).