Josef Špaček

He studied at the Brno Conservatory and Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno in Professor Bedřich Havlík’s class. He shortly played in the opera and operetta orchestras in Brno, the Zlín Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra. He started his solo career when still studying. He joined the Wallinger Quartet, which won the Beethoven’s Hradec competition and was awarded as the most promising young quartet at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian (France) in 1990. He became the deputy cello concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic in 1997 and also appeared as a soloist with the orchestra in compositions by Joseph Haydn and Bohuslav Martinů.

In 1993, he was among the founding members of the Czech Philharmonic Sextet, which has won recognition both in the Czech Republic and abroad (Spain, Germany, Switzerland, South America, Japan). He regularly performs in chamber concerts at the Rudolfinum.

He is also interested in interpreting Baroque music with the chamber ensemble Pro Arte Antiqua Prague which performs in many European countries as well as Japan. Together with his fellow cello and double bass players from the Czech Philharmonic, he used his experience with chamber music in a unique ensemble Virtuosi di basso. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Czech Philharmonic String Quartet and the Norbert Quartet and is often invited to collaborate with other chamber ensembles. He has recorded many CDs for various recording companies.