Roman Novotný

He studied at the Pardubice Conservatory with Professor Jaromír Hönig and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Professor Jiří Válek who later was his long-time colleague in the Czech Philharmonic. In 1995, he founded Afflatus Quintet with bassoonist Ondřej Roskovec, oboist Jana Brožková, clarinettist Vojtěch Nýdl and French horn player Radek Baborák. He won the 1st prize at the ARD International Music Competition Munich in 1997 with the quintet and received the honourable mention award at the Prague Spring International Competition 1996. Afflatus Quintet has performed on many Czech, European and Japanese stages. Among the most notable performances is a series of concerts in the Suntory Hall Tokyo which was broadcast by the Japanese TV and a concert in the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia.

The ensemble has performed on festivals in the Switzerland, Finland, Italy and Germany, has appeared in concerts within the Prague Spring Festival and the Czech Chamber Music Society series in the Rudolfinum. In 1998, they won the Czech Chamber Music Society Award for exceptional interpretation of primarily 20th century music. They became the only ensemble winning this prize twice when they repeated their success in 2003 with the performance of Antonín Dvořák’s American Quartet, Op. 96 arranged for a wind quintet. The quintet also became the Czech Chamber Music Society ensemble in residence. They record music for Supraphon recording label and the Japanese Octavia Records. He himself values most his solo performance of Mozart’s flute concertos in the Suntory Hall with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, his concert within the Prague Spring Festival, where he premiered flute concerto by Czech composer Lukáš Sommer in the Rudolfinum. He has also appeared in Reduta concert hall in Bratislava with the Slovak Philharmonic.

He collaborates with his Czech Philharmonic colleague, harpist Jana Boušková, on music recordings and concerts including festival performances in the Czech Republic and Germany. They have also appeared in concert with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK. Besides this collaboration, he performs with pianists Ivo Kahánek and Martin Kasík, organist Aleš Bárta and cellist Jan Keller. He has recorded CDs for Supraphon, Octavia Records, Artesmon, Radioservis and the Czech Radio, such as sonatas for two flutes by J. S. Bach and his sons with Professor Jiří Válek, complete sonatas by František Benda, concertos by old Czech masters with the Prague Chamber Orchestra and Vilém Blodek’s flute works with Martin Kasík.

He has been teaching at the Prague Conservatory since 2000 and plays a Japanese instrument Muramatsu.

He likes music by Johann Sebastian Bach, for his exceptional composition genius which is almost unearthly, and Maurice Ravel, for the combination of original instrumental colouring and the harmonic depth. He also enjoys listening to guitar magician Pat Metheny whose music has been accompanying him since his conservatory years.