Players

Adam Klánský

Instrument
cello

In Czech Philharmonic
since 2023

Image petr-chodura_b2_petrenko-aimard_lowres_231213204448.jpg

Biography

“From childhood, I admired how an orchestra works and the symphonic sound.”

The second deputy principal cellist Adam Klánský was born into a musical family. He began playing the cello at age five; in 2022 he completed his studies at the Prague Conservatoire under the guidance of Prof. Petr Nouzovský. At present, he is studying at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the studio of Prof. Michal Kaňka. He has been an active participant at masterclasses led by such distinguished international cellists as Steven Isserlis, Reinhard Latzko, Ofer Canetti, and Michaela Fukačová.

Already at six years of age, he won second prize at the competition Prague Junior Note, and since then he has become a laureate of many more competitions. He came away with the title of overall winner at the Jan Vychytil Competition, the Bohuslav Martinů Competition in Polička, and the conservatoire’s competition. He has won first prizes at the Concours Flame in Paris, the Gustav Mahler Competition, and the Dotzauer Competition in Dresden, second prize in Liezen, Austria, and at the Antonio Janigro Competition in Poreč, Croatia, and third prize at the David Popper Competition in Várpalota, Hungary. He also was a winner multiple times at Talents for Europe in Dolný Kubín both for solo playing and for chamber music.

He was been playing with the Czech Philharmonic since 2021, when he joined its Orchestral Academy. In 2023 he won an audition for a full-time position in the orchestra, which he regards as a turning point in his career. “I have never prepared for anything so intensively, and I’m enormously pleased that it turned out well in the end,” says the cellist, whose favourite composer is Gustav Mahler. “To me, any performance of one of his symphonies is a bit of a holiday. But when I was getting started in the Orchestral Academy, performing The Rite of Spring with our chief conductor made a great impression on me as well. Another special experience was the subscription concerts with Camilla Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony led by Alain Altinoglu.” Another conductor he admires is Jakub Hrůša, who “always rehearses very efficiently and precisely, while also trying to pass on interesting information to the orchestra about the works of the composer, thanks to which we can get a more comprehensive sense of the piece we are playing”.

Besides playing in the orchestra, Adam Klánský also devotes himself to solo playing and chamber music. He has made solo appearances with leading Czech orchestras including the Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Leoš Svárovský, the Hradec Králové Philharmonic with Petr Vronský, and the West Bohemia Symphony Orchestra in Mariánské Lázně in collaboration with Petr Altrichtr. As the winner of the Talentinum Competition, he played with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in Zlín. In 2022, he cofounded the ensemble Trio Gaudium. At the same time, he became the cellist of the Ševčík Quartet.

He enjoys civil aviation, and railway transportation. “I also really like going to football matches at all levels of competition, and I’ve joined the orchestra’s Sparta fan club. I also try to play football actively, along with tennis, chess, and ping-pong,” he admits, adding that that he admires Spanish gastronomy. “My own peculiarity is that I don’t drink alcohol or coffee, which is unheard of in the music world, I think”, he says with a smile.