Adam Skoumal, piano & composition
Adam Skoumal is known to the audiences in Europe, USA, and Japan as one of the foremost Czech pianists and composers. He has appeared as soloist with leading Czech and Slovak orchestras (e.g., under the baton of Petr Altrichter, Serge Baudo, Lukasz Borowitz, Jiří Kout, Leoš Svárovský, Jakub Hrůša, Stanislav Vavřínek, Petr Vronský, Andreas Sebastian Weiser) and a number of European orchestras, such as the Bamberger Symphoniker led by Jonathan Nott. In past years, he has performed at the concert series organized by the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Philharmonia, Pilsen Philharmonia, Carlsbad Symphony Orchestra and at festivals such as Prague Spring, Prague Autumn, Janacek May Ostrava, Lípa Musica, Concentus Moraviae and Moravian Autumn. He regularly travels abroad with the Czech National Theatre Orchestra.
The first public recognition of Adam Skoumal as a composer occurred in the Prague Spring Competition 1998, when his playing of his own composition won a special prize for the best performance of a Czech contemporary piece. In 2006, he premiered his First Piano Concerto with the Prague Philharmonia and he also played his Second Piano Concerto with the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia in the same year. In the spring 2008, Shlomo Mintz premiered Skoumal's composition for violin and piano called "Djinnia" in Dubrovnik. Since then, Mr.Mintz has played the piece several times on his tour through South America and also in Rome and Milano in Italy. The orchestral version of Djinnia was performed in 2013 by Jiří Bělohlávek with Prague Philharmonia and broadcasted live on Czech TV. Another violin composition, "Variations on a Gypsy Melody", was chosen to be an obligatory piece in the International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland in 2009, as well as the First International Violin Competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2010.
Adam Skoumal studied at the Prague Conservatoire and the Academy of Performing Arts (under Jan Panenka and Peter Toperczer) and then continued abroad at prestigious universities in the USA. He won scholarships first at the SMU School of Arts in Dallas, Texas and two years later at the Manhattan School of Music, New York, where he was a protege of Ruth Laredo. During his studies he participated in several international master-classes given by such pianists as Lazar Berman, Philippe Entremont, András Schiff, Eugen Indjic and Marián Lapšanský.
Adam Skoumal won 1st prize in the Czech Conservatoires Competition, and in 1998 he won 2nd prize in the Prague Spring International Competition. He was also a prize-winner in other international competitions: Portugal (Porto 1999), Italy (Pinerolo 1999), USA (T. Leschetizky Competition) and a finalist in many other competitions, such as the W. Naumburg Competition and East & West Artists Competition in New York. In 2001, he won the main prize at the Young Podium Festival in Carlsbad for his performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto.
Beyond performing the traditional classical repertoire and seldom-heard concertos (Dvořák, Novák), Adam Skoumal often includes his own compositions. He has also made several CD, Radio and TV recordings, including concertos by Rachmaninoff and Bach on Arco Diva label.