Mission Statement
About Harmony
Harmony Foundation, founded in 2001 and based in Rye, NY, supports artistic efforts in music, theater, and other arts either in the US or Europe. We have held annual concerts and events as well as commissioned musical and artistic works by many artists. Our accomplishments have been recognized and praised by members of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as by various Czech Republic and Slovakia Ambassadors. The result of some of our commissions has been reviewed in various international newspapers including the New York Times.
Mission Statement
To support programs and artistic efforts in music, the visual arts, the performance arts, and cultural and artistic activities in general, primarily through sponsoring or funding live performances and presentations, and to fund and undertake programs that promote world peace through international cooperation and understanding.
About our Founders
Marta Kotyza, Executive Director and Founder
Marta Kotyza has been dedicated to preserving and promoting Czech art for over 40 years. Although she has lived in the United States since before the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, her connection to Czech culture remains an inseparable part of her family’s heritage. Alongside her husband, an opera singer, Marta has been a steadfast patron of Czech artists, ensuring this rich tradition continues to thrive. She has collaborated with government agencies and renowned institutions like Carnegie Hall to bring Czech music and performing arts to international audiences. Through her frequent visits to the Czech Republic and a trusted network of advisors, Marta stays deeply involved in the arts landscape. Committed to fostering a new era of artistic innovation, she looks forward to sharing her vision with the world, honoring the past while embracing the future.
Stanislav Kotyza, President and Founder
Czech-American businessman, arts patron and opera singer Stanislav Kotyza was born in Humpolec. He emigrated to the United States in the 1980s. In 2001, he was one of the founders of the Harmony Foundation, a major cultural organisation in Rye, New York, which supports artistic activities in music, theatre, visual arts and other disciplines in America and Europe. He is a great promoter of Czech and Slovak music. He discovered, recorded and staged several forgotten Czech Christmas carols. He repeatedly and tirelessly presents the music of important composers to the world. In 2022, he organised and supported the Juraj Filas Memorial Mass so that American audiences could discover his beautiful music. He financed the reconstruction of the unique organ in the Church of St. Nicholas in Humpolec. He also financially contributed to a concert by the Band of the Castle Guards and the Police of the Czech Republic in Carnegie Hall, which paid tribute to all New York City police officers and firefighters for their courage demonstrated on September 11. He collaborates with number of important cultural institutions, such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Czech Center New York.