Bohumil Kotmel

He studied the violin with his father and later with Victor Pikajzen, student of David Oistrakh, at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He won the Jaroslav Kocian International Violin Competition in 1973 and the Interpretation Competition of Otakar Ševčík in 1976. In the same year, he was also awarded the laureate title at the Prague Spring International Competition. After finishing his studies, he was the soloist of the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra and the artistic leader of the Czech Chamber Soloists. He was the concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic in 1987–2001 and has performed with the orchestra as a soloist. He teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and is interested in chamber music.

He has performed in many countries around Europe, America and Asia and has a broad solo repertoire. Among his most recent important achievements is the critically acclaimed recording of violin duets by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich which was made with the Czech Philharmonic in collaboration with Czech and Japanese recording companies.