Bohuslav Martinu Institute in Prague was founded as a Study Centre in 1995. The idea of founding a study centre, which would provide a full information service for people interested in Bohuslav Martinu's work and life, came from Dr. Viktor Kalabis, the Ex-President of the Board of Directors of the Bohuslav Martinu Foundation Prague. In 1999,  its name was changed into Bohuslav Martinu Institute. Ales Brezina, who was studying at the University of Basel and the Paul Sacher Foundation, became its director. Literally "from nothing" he built an institution that communicates with the whole world and generates interest in the work of the Czech modern classical music composer.

The aim of the Institute is to gather under one roof all the possible documents written by Bohuslav Martinu as well as all written materials about him so musicologists, musicians and the public can have the possibility of studying the composers life and work within the context of its period. This was the reason for creating a library containing printed scores, copies of manuscripts, musicology literature of 20th century music and an extensive archive of pictorial documents and records.

As Bohuslav Martinu traveled extensively and lived not only in Bohemia but predominantly in Western Europe and the USA, his handwritten scores, correspondence and other documents are located in a number of public institutions and in the possession of private individuals all over the world. The Bohuslav Martinu Institute set the copying of these documents as its long-term goal. It will be a demanding and arduous task. However, we can presume, that after compiling all the material, Prague will have a base for those who want to explore Martinu's work and will be able to provide information to interested parties from all over the world.

The most important project is
The Bohuslav Martinu Complete Edition