Czech Chamber Music Society • Percussion Ensemble JAMU

Martin Opršál

artistic director

After his studies at the conservatoire, during which he became a member of the Brno Philharmonic, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, and the European Union Youth Orchestra (working with the conductor Claudio Abbado), he continued his studies at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, where he is now a professor of tuned percussion and is the head of the percussion department). He also teaches chamber music performing. He was one of the founding members of the DAMA DAMA Central European Percussion Ensemble, and with them he won an international competition of percussion orchestras in the Netherlands.

His musical priority is playing the marimba (his CD Reverberations features solo works and chamber music for marimba) and other tuned percussion instruments. At his concerts, he systematically presents compositions written for him, giving their Czech or world premieres. He also teaches masterclasses on the interpretation of contemporary music for marimba, and he is invited to sit on juries for music competitions in this country and abroad.

He is a sought-after chamber musician. He has performed with the BERG Orchestra in Prague, the Ensemble Opera Diversa in Brno, and the Ostrava Centre for New Music. He cofounded the OK Percussion Duo, which creates and interprets contemporary percussion music. He devotes himself to improvisation projects in the ensemble Dust in the Groove. He also took part in two CDs with Iva Bittová, and with the jazz legend Joe Zawinul he created the album Stories of the Danube.

Martin Opršál has performed as a soloist and in ensembles in concerts and at music festivals in the countries of central and western Europe, Japan, Korea, and the USA. He has made solo appearances with the Prague Philharmonia and the philharmonic orchestras in Ostrava, Brno, Hradec Králové, Zlín, Olomouc, and Karlovy Vary.