Jiří Bárta - Violoncello

Jiri Barta, one of the foremost cellists of younger generation, studied in Prague with Josef Chuchro, in Cologne with Boris Pergamenschikow and in Los Angeles with Eleonore Schoenfeld. He took various masterclasses with Heinrich Schiff, Andre Navarra and Aldo Parisot. After winning number of national competitions Jiri he was has been awarded the Europäische Förderpreis für Musik in Dresden and the Rostropovich-Hammer Award in Los Angeles, both in 1991. His concert activities in past seasons have taken him to much of Europe, North & South America, Australia, Japan and Korea.

Jiri has appeared at festivals such as Ankara Music Festival, Australian Chamber Music Festivals, Expo Japan 2005, Bratislava, Brighton, Brno, Dresden, Edinburgh, Kuhmo, Lugano, Newport (1998-2008), Prague Spring Festival, Salzburg (Schubert Festival 1997), Schleswig Holstein, Brighton. As a soloist or in recital he has appeared in venues such as London Wigmore Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Dublin Concert Hall, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Los Angeles Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Royce Hall at UCLA, La’Auditorio in Barcelona, Edinburgh Queen Elisabeth Hall, Tokyo Suntory and Casals Halls , Buenos Aires Teatro Colon, Paris Theatre Chatelet, Prague Rudolfinum, Salzburg Mozarteum, Soul Arts Center, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Washington National Gallery. Orchestras he has worked with include Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic London, Berlin Symphony, Philharmonie Dortmund, Orchestra della Svizzera Romana Lugano, Prague Symphony, Prague Philharmonia, Scottish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Glasgow, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Philharmony, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra or Symphony Orchestra RTV Slovenia with conductors such as Jiri Belohlavek, Charles Dutoit, Maxim Shostakovich, Gennadi Rozhdestvenski, Lalo Schiffrin,Libor Pesek or Jerzy Maksimiuk.

In 2004 on a Supraphon label, Jiri has released the Dvorak Celloconcerto with Czech Philharmonic/Jiri Bělohlávek, a live recording of performance commemorating Dvorak‘s 100 year’s anniversary televised throughout Europe by Arte Channel. His other CD from 2003 with Kodaly Cello works has been awarded Gramophon Editor’s Choice. Jiri‘s project "Reflections" was voted the best Czech CD recording of 1999 and won top rating and "Klassik Heute Empfehlung" by German magazine "Klassik Heute". Supraphon title with Sonatas by Rachmaninov, Schnittke and Pärt was the Harmony Award winning album in 1995. His other Supraphon recordings include critically acclaimed complete Bach Cello suites and live recording of Shostakovich cello concertos with Maxim Shostakovich conducting Prague Symphony. The DVD recording "Jiri Barta plays Dvorak" (Cello concerto with Prague Symphony conducted by Gaetano Delogu) was released in Japan by Dreamline Corp. in 1999. Jiri collaborated with mezzosoprano Magdalena Kozena on her Detsche Grammophon Lieder project, awarded by Gramophone Award in London 2005. His first CD for Hyperion released in 2006 included world premiere recording of Ignaaz Moscheles Cello Sonata, another Hyperion disc with sonatas of Arthur Rubinstein with pianist Hamish Milne is to be released in 2009.

Jiri has been teaching at "l’Académie franco-tcheque de musique de Telc" from 1996 . As enthusiastic chamber musician Jiri has founded Kutna Hora Chamber Music Festival in 2008, festival aimed at both worlds of contemporary and traditional held in beautiful venues of medieval town Kutna Hora.