Helena Šulcová

She started playing the violin in V. Novák Music School in Jindřichův Hradec (south Bohemia) with Hana Stráníková, later studied with Professor Pavel Kudelásek at the Prague Conservatory and graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in Professor Jiří Tomášek’s class. She perfected her skills at the Malmö Academy of Music (Sweden) with Dan Almgren, the concertmaster of the Goteborg Symphony Orchestra. In her graduation concert in Prague, she played Josef Suk’s Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra G minor with the Pilsen Philharmonic and conductor Jakub Klecker. In 2001–2004, she was the concertmaster of the Festival Pergine Spettacolo Aperto Orchestra (Italy). Before joining the second violins in the Czech Philharmonic, she had collaborated with PKF – Prague Philharmonia, the Berg Orchestra and Ensemble Martinů.

She has attended masterclass courses with Kató Havas, Bohumil Kotmel Senior, Václav Hudeček, Pavel Šporcl and Semyon Yaroshevich. In 1997, she participated in the chamber music summer masterclass in Blonay (Switzerland), in 1997 and 2000, she took part in a masterclass in Semmering (Austria) and in 2005, she attended the Baroque music courses in Gmunden (Austria).

Among her successes are the 1^st prize in the Concertino Praga competition (chamber category) from 1996 and a special prize for the best performance of a 20^th century composer’s music (Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1) at the Kocian Violin Competition in 1997.