Jiří Bárta, 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 Jiří 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.

Jiří has appeared at festivals such as Ankara Music Festival, Australian Chamber Music Festival, Expo Japan 2005, Bratislava, Brighton,  Brno, Dresden, Edinburgh, Kuhmo, Lugano, Newport, Prague Spring Festival, Salzburg (Schubert Festival 1997), Schleswig Holstein. 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  and Symphony Orchestra RTV Slovenia with conductors such as Jiří Belohlavek, Charles Dutoit, Gennadi Rozhdestvenski, Lalo Schiffrin, Maxim Shostakovich, Libor Pesek  or Jerzy Maksimiuk.

In 2004 on a Supraphon label, Jiří has released  Dvorak Celloconcerto with Czech Philharmonic/Jiří 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 "Jiří 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 2005. His  first CD for Hyperion with pianist Hamish Milne released in 2006 included world premiere recording of Ignaaz Moscheles Cello Sonata, another Hyperion disc with sonatas of Arthur  Rubinstein was released in 2009. His latest Supraphon recording of concertos by Foerster, Martinu and Jan Novak with Jakub Hrusa/Prague Philharmonia  was awarded Gramophone Editor’s Choice in 2009.

As an enthusiastic chamber musician Jiri has founded Kutna Hora Chamber Music Festival in 2008, festival aimed at both worlds of contemporary and classical  music   which gained instant recogition as one of the top classical festivals in the Czech Republic.

Jiří Bárta has been teaching at the L’académie franco-tchéque de Musique de Telc since 1996, he held Masterclasses at various schools including Prague, London, Seoul and Los Angeles.