Roman Patočka
violin
He is a prominent figure among the soloists of his generation. After completing studies at the Prague Conservatory with Dagmar Zárubová and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, studying under Ivan Štraus, he continued his studies abroad, first in Utrecht with Keiko Wataya, and later in Lübeck with Shmuel Ashkenasi. In 2009, he received his Masters from the Musikhochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin as a student of Stefan Picard.
He has performed extensively with some of today’s most renowned musicians. He was a participant of the International Musical Academy in Montpellier, as well as the Keshet Eilon Music Centre festival in Israel.
Patočka’s talent and raw musicality have been recognized worldwide. In 2003, he was awarded second prize with four special awards at the Prague Spring Competition, and in 2004 was awarded the Yamaha Scholarship and became laureate of the International Competition of Václav Huml in Zagreb. Three years later, Patočka earned second prize at the Max Rostal International Competition in Berlin, and third prize at the International Pablo de Sarasate Violin Competition in Pamplona. In 2009, he was awarded third prize with two special awards at the esteemed Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition in Augsburg.
As a soloist, Roman Patočka has performed with orchestras in the Czech Republic and beyond. He has also performed under the baton of conductors Jiří Bělohlávek, Zdeněk Mácal, Vladimír Válek, Jakub Hrůša, Douglas Bostock, Heiko Mathias Forster, Yoko Matsuo, and Georg Fritzsch. In 2004, Patočka performed Leoš Janáček’s little-known concerto The Wandering of a Little Soul with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. That same year, he had the special privilege of premiering Bohuslav Martinů’s Czech Rhapsody for violin and orchestra with the Chamber Orchestra Berg.
In 2014 he premiered Adam Skoumal’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra at the Prague Spring 69 International Music Festival, and in 2015 made an acclaimed debut performance with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Jan Hanuš.
As a chamber musician, Roman Patočka has performed with some of today’s most important Czech musicians – including Jiří Bárta, Radek Baborák, Martin Kasík, and Igor Ardašev – as well as internationally recognized musicians such as Daishin Kashimoto, Jennifer Frautschi, Lara St. John, Chloë Hanslip, Konstantin Lifschitz, José Gallardo, Maciej Pikulski and Roberto Giordano. He is a member of both the celebrated Talich Quartet and the Eben Trio.
Since 2020/21 he is the concertmaster of The Prague Symphony Orchestra.
