Jan Jouza

After studying at the Prague Conservatory with Professor Vladimír Rejšek and graduating from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in Professor Nora Grumlíková’s class, he became the concertmaster of the North Czech Philharmonic Teplice. In 1987, he joined the orchestra of the Smetana Theatre as the associate concertmaster.

He is an active chamber musician. He used to play in the Czech Chamber Orchestra and recorded six sonatas by Jan Dismas Zelenka with the Prague Baroque Ensemble for Studio Matouš. Since 2010, he has participated in the Tones of Architecture cycle which invites the audiences to discover the history and beauty of Prague palaces and halls through music.

In 1997, he founded the Chamber Ensemble Variations, now Variations Prague, which focuses on performing not only the well-known but also less famous pieces by the 19^th and 20^th century composers played in various instrumental groups. Besides concerts in the Czech Republic, the ensemble has also visited Switzerland, Poland and Germany, has cooperated with the Czech Radio and the Czech TV.

The ensemble’s recording of pieces by A. Caplet, O. Respighi and A. Schönberg won the top award of the French magazine Répertoire in May 1999. Most recently, they recorded pieces by W. A. Mozart, J. S. Bach, A. Vivaldi, J. Suk, A. Dvořák and B. Smetana for the recording label Artesmon in 2018.