Czech Philharmonic concertmaster Jan Fišer was born into a musical family. He exhibited his obvious musical talent from an early age, winning many competitions (Kocian Violin Competition, Concertino Praga, UNESCO Tribune of Young Musicians, Beethoven’s Hradec etc.).
He began playing the violin under the guidance of Hana Metelková and later studied at the Prague Conservatory with Jaroslav Foltýn. He went through the famed summer program at the Meadowmount School of Music three times, where he met his future teacher, Andrés J. Cárdenes, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It was in this distinguished professor’s class that Jan Fišer graduated from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music in Pittsburgh in 2003. He furthered his musical education at numerous masterclasses led by, for example, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, and Joseph Silverstein.
Just as he was deciding whether to remain in the USA, the Prague Philharmonia announced an audition for the position of concertmaster. Fišer won the audition and stayed with the orchestra for sixteen years—until 2020, when he moved to the same position with the Czech Philharmonic, where he remains today. He has appeared as a guest concertmaster with the Bamberg Symphony, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.
As a soloist, he has performed for audiences in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, France, and Poland, as well as in Japan. He has also participated in major music festivals (the Pau Casals International Music Festival in Spain, Murten Classics in Switzerland, and the Brevard Music Festival in the USA). He also performs with Czech orchestras, including the Prague Philharmonia, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, and the Czech Philharmonic, with whom he performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano alongside Václav Petr and Karolina Pancernaite in early 2026.
In addition to his extensive orchestral and solo activities, he is also dedicated to chamber music—together with pianist Ivo Kahánek and cellist Tomáš Jamník, he forms the Dvořák Trio, which ranks among the leading Czech chamber ensembles and has achieved success in renowned venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie and the Elbphilharmonie.
Jan Fišer also regularly records for television and radio, and as one of five laureates, he contributed to the CD A Tribute to Jaroslav Kocian for the 40th anniversary of the Kocian International Violin Competition. He is also active as an educator—serving as a mentor at the MenART scholarship academy and regularly teaching at music courses, including the Ševčík Academy in Horažďovice and the Telč Music Academy.
He plays a French violin from the early 19th century attributed to the luthier François-Louis Pique.
