About

Marek Švejkar is a renowned Czech clarinetist whose artistic career has taken him to prestigious international stages. He is the very first Czech clarinetist to study at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris under Philippe Berrod and Jérôme Comte, and at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris under Franck Amet and Paul Meyer, both of which he graduated from with the Premier Prix. He is a graduate of the prestigious music programme of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under Alessandra Carbonare. He is currently doing doctoral research at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Ostrava under the supervision of Karel Dohnal.

Marek Švejkar has been invited several times to collaborate with orchestral and chamber ensembles such as Orchestre de Paris (under the baton of Daniel Harding, Sakari Oramo, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alain Altinoglu and others), Ensemble Intercontemporain (under the baton of Matthias Pintscher, Bruno Mantovani and others), Opéra de Limoges, and the chamber projects with the soloists of the Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker, IRCAM Paris, the philharmonic season of the Brno Philharmonic, the South Bohemian Philharmonic and others. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Czech Philharmonic (under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek), the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, the North Bohemian Philharmonic, the Brno Contemporary Orchestra (Czech premiere of Domaines by Pierre Boulez), the Quasars Ensemble (Slovak premiere of Domaines by Pierre Boulez), the Kammerakademie Mittelböhmen, the well-known Trio Bohémo, the FAMA Quartet and others. In addition, Marek has been invited to prestigious international festivals and concert series, including the Prague Spring Festival, the International Music Festival Český Krumlov, Cairo Opera, the Velvet Revolution anniversary in Washington, D.C., and many others.

Already at such an early age Marek established cooperation with leading Czech publishers. His discography so far includes several titles. He participated in the creation of the album Ama Me by singer Eva Garajová, which was released in cooperation with the ArcoDiva label. His debut solo album Connection - Années de pèlerinage, which was released in cooperation with the Czech Radio Radioservis label, was released together with pianist Lenka Korecka as part of the Year of Czech Music 2024, with three Czech premieres. The album was officially launched by the well-known composer Adam Skoumal and the acclaimed singer Leona Machálková. All of Marek’s successes led to a cooperation with the prestigious Supraphon label, which will release a debut disc in 2025 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the renowned composers Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez with their complete works for solo clarinet. This collaboration has kicked off many future joint projects.

In the past, Marek has participated in many prestigious masterclasses and scholarship programmes, such as Sibelius Summer Academy (Finland) under the direction of Caloger Palermo and Harri Mäki, Stavanger Chamber Music Academy (Norway) under the direction of Yehuda Gilad and Martin Fröst, Masterclass Apeldoorn (Netherlands) led by Charles Neidich. He is a winner of many international clarinet competitions and a scholarship recipient of numerous foundations, such as Stadler-Trier Music Foundation, Fondation de France, Mécénat Société Générale, ADAMI, Fondation Legs Jabès, The Kellner Family Foundation, Věra Třebická-Řivnáčová Foundation, Nadace Život umělce and others. He is also an ambassador and artist of the world-famous Vandoren brand.