Markéta Janáčková                                      

Markéta Janáčková is a pianist and recording director whose professional life has long been shaped by two equally important artistic pursuits: performing as a pianist and working as a recording director. 

PIANIST

She performs as a soloist and chamber musician at concert venues throughout the Czech Republic and abroad, including Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Ukraine and China. She has collaborated with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in Zlín, among others.

Markéta Janáčková has received numerous invitations to perform at major concert venues and international events, including MIDEM in Cannes, where her concert was broadcast live by Radio France; the Opéra National de Paris – Studio Bastille; an international festival in Montreal; the prestigious Juan March Foundation in Madrid; the Prague Spring Festival; Janáček's May Festival; and the Ludwig van Beethoven Festival. She is the recipient of the Naděžda Pochlebinová–Sažinová Award, presented to outstanding piano graduates of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She also regularly records for Czech Radio and Czech Television.

Since 1999, when she was invited to take part in the international project Zum Gedenken an die Theresienstädter Komponisten (In Memory of the Terezín Composers) in Hamburg and Prague, she has devoted herself to the music of Jewish composers associated with Terezín. She has performed their works at a concert in Terezín recorded by German television broadcaster ZDF and at the Festival of Forbidden Music in Terezín. She has also presented this programme to audiences in Denmark, including in Gilleleje and Copenhagen at the international conference October '43, as well as in Næstved in connection with Judita Matyášová's exhibition Sofiina volba po Česku (Sophie's Choice in the Czech Lands). Her performances have also taken her to Munich, Düsseldorf and Strasbourg. During her studies, she received support from the Gideon Klein Foundation.

In 2001, she founded the Janáček Trio. In 2006, the ensemble released its first CD, featuring works by W. A. Mozart, Josef Suk and Antonín Dvořák. Two years later, marking the tenth anniversary of Alfred Schnittke's death, the trio released a CD devoted to his chamber music, commissioned by the French label Praga Digitals and distributed by Harmonia Mundi. In 2012, her CD with the Janáček Trio was released by Supraphon, featuring the complete piano trios of Czech composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster. She is also committed to performing premieres of works by composers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

She graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where she studied with Associate Professor Boris Krajný. She completed her studies in 2000 with a graduation concert featuring the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc. She continued to develop her artistry through masterclasses in Paris with Sergey Babayan, in Prague with Joseph Banowetz, and at the Schola Cantorum in Paris with Eugen Indjic.

She passes on her many years of experience to students at the Prague British International School, where she teaches piano.

RECORDING DIRECTOR

Since 2009, she has worked at Czech Radio as a Recording Director and currently also serves as Head of the Recording Directors. She contributes to the production of major radio, concert and studio recordings, as well as projects involving a wide range of performers and orchestral forces.

As a Recording Director, she has worked with leading Czech and international orchestras and ensembles, including the Czech Philharmonic, Collegium 1704, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (Wiener Symphoniker), the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava and the South Bohemian Philharmonic. Her work includes recordings of major concert projects and festivals, ranging from solo and chamber music to large-scale orchestral productions and live concert broadcasts.

She collaborates with many distinguished conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Alain Altinoglu and Petr Popelka, as well as leading Czech and international soloists such as Alisa Weilerstein, Magdalena Kožená and Jan Bartoš.

Under her direction, numerous recordings have been produced for Czech Radio, Czech Television and broadcasters and platforms including Medici, Mezzo, ARTE, as well as for record labels such as Supraphon, Pentatone and Hyperion. Many of these recordings have received international awards.

Drawing on her many years of experience as a performing musician, she brings the perspective of an active interpreter to her work as a Recording Director. The combination of a deep understanding of musical interpretation and extensive experience in professional recording is one of the defining characteristics of her work.