Martin Kasík is one of the most prominent figures on the Czech music scene. He is acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for his creative, poetic approach to performance, through which he captures the mood of the moment, a spiritual depth, and an extraordinary richness and variety of moods. He studied at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava under Monika Tugendliebová and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Ivan Klánský. He broadened his musical horizons through masterclasses with Lazar Berman, Garrick Ohlson, Christian Zacharias, and Paul Badura-Skoda.
His victory in the Prague Spring competition in 1998 and, a year later, in the prestigious Young Concert Artists Competition in New York opened the door to the world’s major concert halls—New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and others. In one of his interviews, he mentioned that he enjoyed playing best in Japanese concert halls on local instruments—praising their technical quality and exceptional maintenance.
Under the baton of prominent Czech and international conductors (Pinchas Zukerman, Marin Alsop, Yakov Kreizberg, Ingo Metzmacher, Serge Baudo, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Libor Pešek, Jakub Hrůša, Tomáš Netopil), he has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and, last but not least, the Czech Philharmonic. He regularly collaborates with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), with whom he has toured Japan and the United States.
During the 2025/2026 season, Martin Kasík performed—among other engagements—concert series with violinist Ivan Ženatý, presenting works by Schumann, Richard Strauss, Rachmaninoff, and Martinů in Brussels, on tour of Spain, and in Prague. In the spring of 2026, he also served as a jury member for the Prague Spring competition.
His discography includes solo, chamber, and concert recordings that have received numerous accolades in Gramophone, Repertoire, and Harmonie magazines. To date, he has released 15 albums for the Czech labels Supraphon and ArcoDiva; his latest album, Ballades & Scherzos, featuring works by Fryderyk Chopin, was recorded in 2024 at the Rudolfinum.
Martin Kasík is also active as a teacher—he currently teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the Prague Conservatory. Since 2008, he has also served as artistic director of the Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně. His wife, Kristina Kasíková, is also a pianist, and their two children are also involved in music.
