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Ondřej Fischer / Radio Classic
The guest of this week’s episode of Music in the Millennium is clarinetist Marek Švejkar. He was the first Czech clarinetist to study at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris and recently released the album Connection with pianist Lenka Korecká, featuring both Czech and French repertoire.
Clarinetist Marek Švejkar (born 1995) graduated from the Prague Conservatory in the classes of Milan Polák and Ludmila Peterková before heading to Paris for further studies. He earned a concert diploma at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris and subsequently became the first Czech clarinetist accepted into the prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.
He has collaborated with the Brno Philharmonic, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, the South Czech Philharmonic, and other domestic orchestras, as well as chamber ensembles such as Trio Bohémo. In 2014, he performed as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek. He has also performed in Berlin with members of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, in Washington, D.C., at the Cairo Opera House, and at Prague’s Rudolfinum as part of the Prague Spring Festival.
Švejkar is also dedicated to music pedagogy, partly within his current doctoral studies at the University of Ostrava under Karel Dohnal. He is a laureate of numerous international competitions, including the Markneukirchener Wettbewerb, Concorso Internazionale per Clarinetto Carlino, and the Międzynarodowy Konkurs Instrumentów Dętych. In addition to the clarinet, he is also an accomplished pianist, having studied under Věra Vlková.
He maintains a long-standing collaboration with pianist Lenka Korecká, with whom he recorded his debut album, Connection, released this year. The recording introduces lesser-known Czech and French clarinet repertoire. It includes works and arrangements by Charles-Marie Widor, Gabriel Fauré, and Camille Saint-Saëns alongside pieces by Czech composers Zdeněk Fibich, Oldřich Flosman, and Adam Skoumal.
Marek Švejkar will reveal more about his life and work during the program, premiering on Tuesday, April 9, at 7:00 PM.
