The churches are in the small Moravian town of Rousínov, where, as a young girl, Magda Dvofiáková was fascinated by their simple yet elegant lines. A small plaque noted only the name of the architect, which Dvofiáková says was "too little for a curious person like me." So after the communist barriers fell Dvofiáková began researching Martinelli, and became determined to give his work greater exposure.

It took a while, but she put together an impressive package of lectures and concerts, two of which will be held here under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy. On Monday, Sept. 25, American Joel Frederiksen, a classically trained singer and specialist in Baroque and Renaissance music, will give a lecture on his craft at the American Center in Malá Strana. The following night he will perform Baroque works and two new pieces — one based on the life of Martinelli, the other on the work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright — at Wallenstein Palace.

This assemblage of Italian, American and Czech elements seems like one of the season's wackier projects until you talk to Dvofiáková, a woman of no small enthusiasm and energy. Following the trail of Martinelli's work took her to other Moravian towns like Letonice and Valtice, and, before long, to nearby Austerlitz, where Martinelli designed a fabulous chateau, among other projects, for Count Kounitz. Martinelli's most famous building is probably the Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna, which houses one of the finest collections of Baroque art in Europe.

"I wanted to know more about him, to discover the mystery of this person," says Dvofiáková, for whom the exploration of Baroque architecture flowed naturally into music of the era. So she contacted Frederiksen, an aficionado of the period with an unusual voice — coloratura basso profundo — and an engaging manner who loves to talk about his work. He found Martinelli so interesting that he's doing a series of concerts, with Prague sandwiched in between towns like Kuks, Úsov and Rousínov, capped by an Oct. 1 performance at Vienna's Liechtenstein Palace.

To anyone familiar with the intricacies of putting arts projects together in the Czech Republic, much less one that involves international participants and sponsors, this is nothing short of a minor miracle. Dvofiáková makes it sound like she was lucky. "Sometimes it was a matter of chance, finding the right person," she says. But she brought incredible energy to the task and a tight focus: "Not many people know about Martinelli. I'd like to change this." The full results of her efforts will be published in a book due out next month.

In the meantime, you can reap the fruits of an Italian architect's work by learning about the intricacies of European Baroque music from an American performer — a bizarre combination anywhere else in the world, but perfectly fitting in Prague.