Jan Rezek
Conductor, cellist
Jan Rezek was born on November 11, 1982, in Karlovy Vary. He studied cello at the Prague Conservatory, graduating from Vladan Kočí’s class. He further pursued conducting at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory under Hynek Farkač and studied choral conducting along with music education at the Faculty of Education, Charles University, under the guidance of Marek Štryncl and Miriam Němcová. He also graduated from the Catholic Theological Faculty at Charles University with a degree in theological studies.
Jan was engaged at the J.K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň as a conductor of the operetta and musical ensemble. During his studies, he developed a wide range of musical styles from classical to contemporary modern popular music. He has conducted the Prague Film Orchestra (winning first prize with them at the YoungPrague festival), the women’s chamber choir Charmone, and the Rakovník Chamber Orchestra. He has repeatedly participated in conducting masterclasses. In 2012, he founded the musical ensemble Rock Chamber Orchestra.
He remains an active cellist, primarily in chamber music, but also performs solo and in orchestras. He is a founding member of the Quattro Chamber Orchestra. He performs both domestically and internationally (Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, England, Cyprus, Latvia, China, and more). He has recorded for Czech Radio and Czech Television.
Currently, he teaches at the First Czech Grammar School in Karlovy Vary, at the Archbishop’s Grammar School, and at the International Conservatory in Prague. He is the choirmaster of the Karlovy Vary Choir and the St. James Choir in Prague. As a conductor, he has collaborated with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestra of the City Theatre in Brno. He works with many soloists from the National Theatre (Lucie Silkenová, Luděk Vele, František Zahradníček, Tomáš Černý, Vladimír Doležal, Lenka Pospíšilová, Martin Šrejma, Stanislava Jirků, Michaela Zajmi, and others), leading Czech organists (Vladimír Roubal, Vladimír Jelínek, Přemysl Kšica, Josef Kšica, and others), and other soloists and composers from the Czech Republic and abroad (e.g., from Israel – Ayal Adler, Shay Cohen, Boris Levenberg).
