Influencers of Resonance
2018/2019 piano recitals
September 30 2019
MAREK KOZÁK
At a mere twenty-five years of age, the virtuoso pianist Marek Kozák can boast a number of dazzling triumphs in a myriad competitions, including some of the most prestigious. And so his name is almost automatically linked with the title of Semifinalist of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, the top contest in its discipline worldwide, or with success at the renowned Prague Spring Competition a year later, in 2016 (Second Prize and recognition for performing Adam Skoumal’s contemporary composition Kejklíř – The Jongleur). This was followed in 2018 by his victorious participation in the European Piano Contest Bremen, where he also earned the Audience Award. But critics also cite the pianist’s name in connection with various other qualities. They highlight his flawless technique, his sense of proportion and gradation, his rich palette of registers, his expansive musicality, and the inherent humility of his approach to how the music is written. Marek Kozák, a graduate of the piano class of Prof. Ivan Klánský at the Academy of Music in Prague, has certainly made a splash in the Czech piano scene.
Marek Kozák (*1993) already showed extraordinary talent when attending the Children’s Art School in Brušperk. He soon discovered further skills as an organist and composer. He studied both instruments at the Janáček Conservatoire in Ostrava – the piano under Monika Tugendliebová, the organ under Martina Zelová. He attended numerous masterclasses led by world-famous piano virtuosos, such as Eugene Indjic, Murray Perahia, or Garrick Ohlsson. Marek Kozák’s solo concert career was jump-started by his inclusion in the Czech Music Fund’s List of Young Artists. He has worked with a number of leading Czech orchestras and regularly performs abroad. His participation in the Debut series of Prague Spring in 2018 was a grand success. That same year he released his first “signature” CD (ArcoDiva) with the works of Joseph Haydn, Frédéric Chopin, César Franck, and Adam Skoumal.
Besides teaching at the Grammar and Music School of the Capital City of Prague since 2017, Marek Kozák has a clear focus on the interpretation of Chopin, while also excelling at contemporary music – a fact that is easily evidenced by the award he received at the competition in Bremen. Concert stages are graced with his elegant “Klánský legacy” of cultivation, and audiences are thrilled by his ability to “present with great humility and without ostentation that which the composer wished to express”.
