The young Czech piano virtuoso Marek Kozák has achieved a series of impressive results in a wide range of prestigous competitions.
His most recent honour is the laureate title in the highly demanding Councours Géza Anda Zürich 2021. In 2015, Marek was a semifinalist in one of the world leading contest, The Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. The following year, he gained second prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition and special award for his performance of the contemporary composition “The Jongleur“ by Adam Skoumal on top. In 2018, he won both first prize and the audience prize at the European Piano Competition in Bremen and in 2019 he was a finalist in the Busoni Competition in Bolzano.
Critics consistently praise his flawless technique, sense of proportion and gradation, wide range of expression, deep musicality and faithfulness to musical notation.
Marek Kozák is a regular guest of leading Czech orchestras and abroad.
In the 2024-25 season, he will perform Dvořák's Piano Concerto in G minor with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Olomouc and their chief conductor Zsolt Hamar at the season-opening concert and on tour in Poland (Krakow, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Warsaw, Lublin, Opole). He will also perform Grieg's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in October with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK and Peter Altrichter, in December with the Symphony Orchestra of Friedrichshafen and in March 2025 with the Slovak Philharmonic. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. awaits him with the Hradec Králové Philharmonic.
He is also a sought-after chamber musician. His musical partners include soprano Simona Šaturová, cellists Václav Petr, Vilém Vlček and, more recently, violinist Jan Novák. Together with them this season he will perform at the IMF Lípa Musica, Eternal Hope, Třeboňská nocturna, in the Czech Chamber Music Society, in the chamber series of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK and also in the chamber series of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava.
The new recording by Supraphon (March 2024) of Forgotten Czech Piano Concertos is a result of many years of research and exploration on the part of pianist Marek Kozák, who is interested in lesser-known piano pieces. He recorded concerts written by Karel Kovařovic, Vítězslava Kaprálová and Pavel Bořkovec with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Jindra.
In 2018 he released his first profile CD (ArcoDiva) with compositions by Joseph Haydn, Fryderyk Chopin, César Franck, Sergei Rachmaninov and Adam Skoumal.
Marek is a graduate of the piano class of Professor Ivan Klánský at HAMU in Prague and is currently teaching at the Gymnasium and Music School of the capital city of Prague.