Jan Talich

He studied at the Prague Conservatoire and later at the Prague Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts under Václav Snítil. He received scholarships to further his education in both the USA with Shmuel Ashkenasi and then with Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music in England. In 1989 he won 1 st prize at the Václav Huml International Violin Competition in Zagreb, which started his international solo career, playing with orchestras and giving recitals throughout Europe (Paris, Birmingham, London, Brussels). He has recorded several solo CDs of Czech music with piano, as well as Beethoven and Mozart concertos. His latest recordings include Shostacovitch violin sonata and a CD of gypsy music with cymbalian. He regularly gives masterclasses both at home and abroad: in Telč in the Czech Republic, in France including Dijon, Prades and the Conservatoire Superieur in Paris and other courses in Belgium and Israel. In 1992 Jan founded the Talich Chamber Orchestra, of which he is the soloist and artistic director. He was also a founding member of The Kubelík Trio. During his time with the trio he performed throughout Europe and recorded the complete set of Dvořák’s trios, along with the works of Smetana, Suk and Novák. He left the trio for the post of 1 st violinist in the Talich Quartet in 1997, one of the world’s leading ensembles of its kind. With the Talich Quartet he has performed to great reviews in many of the world’s most famous venues. This list includes stages in America and Canada, including Carnegie Hall, Beethovenhaus, Herkulessaal (Munich), Châtelet, Theâtre de Champs Elysees and Gaveau. They are also regularly touring the major venues of Japan, South America, Mexico and South Korea. Their discography is extensive, covering most of the famous Czech quartets, along with other interesting projects such as the complete quartets of Mendelssohn and the complete set of Shostacovitch’s chamber works for strings and piano. As well as conducting his own orchestra since its foundation he has, in the last several years, begun to broaden his career as a conductor. He is now increasingly asked to work as a guest conductor with many other orchestras in the Czech Republic and abroad. In 2008 he became the chief conductor of the South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic orchestra.