Jitka Čechová

Born in Mělník near Prague, she received her basic musical training from Prof. Jan Novotný at the Prague Conservatoire and from Prof. Peter Toperczer at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. Her individual musical gifts were then developed to their full during postgraduate studies under Eugen Indjic in Paris and Vitali Berzon in Freiburg. She acquired further experience during her research studies at master classes given by R. Kehrer in Weimar, E. Indjic and L. Berman in Piesťany, and Avo Kuyumjian in Prague.

Jitka Čechová has won prizes in the following international competitions: "Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte" in Ústí nad Labem (1986); the Smetana Competition in Hradec Králové (1986, 1988 and 1990); the Chopin Competition in Mariánské Lázně (1987 and 1989); and the Johann Nepomuk Hummel Competition in Bratislava, Slovakia (1991).

She has made a name for herself as a soloist, both in recitals and with orchestras, on podiums across Europe (in Austria, France, Germany, Scotland, Spain, Bulgaria, England, Slovakia) and also in South Africa. She played two extremely successful concerts with a special programme by Smetana at the International Festival in Edinburgh in 1998. She performed with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, with the South-Western Radio Symphony Orchestra, with Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK (Prague Spring Festival), Prague Chamber Philharmonia and many others Czech orchestras.

During a concert tour of Germany with the South-Western Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by P. Altrichter she premiered a piano concert that Zdeněk Lukás had composed for her, achieving spectacular success with both audiences and the critics.

Chamber music is an indispensable component of Jitka Čechová's musical identity. She brings a full emotional commitment to bear to her role as pianist in the Smetana Trio, supported by the brilliant technical basis of her solo metier. Within the Smetana Trio partnership (Jana Nováková - violin, Jan Páleníček - cello) she also plays duets with violin or cello and performs solo pieces as part of the Trio's chamber music repertoire.

Jitka Čechová records CDs for the Intercord, Supraphon, BMG, Koch International, Lotos and Cube companies. Her latest recording for the latter company were CDs with music by Liszt, Lukás, Shostakovich, Saint-Saëns, Dvořák, Smetana and Martinů.