Richard Pohl (1983) was born in Ostrava (Czech Republic) and studied at the Grammar School and School of Music in Jesenik. His exceptional talent
resulted in many awards at national competitions for young musicians
including Honorary Diploma and First Prize at the Carl Ditters von
Dittersdorf Chamber Music Competition in Vidnava. He also appeared as
soloist with a Young Musicians String Orchestra in Jesenik.
At the age of fifteen he entered the State Conservatory in Brno, where he
studied with the celebrated Czech pedagogue Eva Horakova, former member of
the Bohuslav Martinu Trio. Under her tutelage, he took part in the
International Competition Concertino Praga and received a honorary award (as
part of a piano duo with fellow-student David Schmied).
In 2004 Pohl was accepted at the Janacek Academy of Music and Performing
Arts in Brno, where he studies with Zdenek Hnat, one of the greatest Czech
pianists of our time, a pupil of Heinrich Neuhaus. He also attended
masterclasses with Antonin Kubalek (Canada), Sontraud Speidel, Thomas
Steinhöfel, Iva Navratova (Germany), George Kanev (Bulgaria) and Petr Sefl
(Czech Republic).
Pohl's main interest is the chamber music, especially his collaborations
with singers. In 2002 he established a partnership with one of the most
talented singers of his country, the bass-baritone Josef Skarka. They
created a duo focusing on performing art songs, and together took part in
such events like The International Music Festival Moravian Autumn, The
International Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition (Paris), The Days of
Young Performers (Brno), Bravo Mozart (Prague, Olomouc, Jesenik) and many
others. In 2004 he took part in several events of the national cultural
project "Czech Music 2004" (www.czechmusic.org).
As an excellent accompanist, Richard Pohl earned many prizes and awards in
that field. He was also appointed as an official accompanist of voice
department at Frantisek Jilek Music School in Brno. In 2006, he participated
at the International Smetana Piano Competition in Pilsen, where he finished
at sixth place in the third category.
Since 2003, he's been regular participant of the
International Kubalek Piano
Courses where in 2004 he received a special
prize for the best performance of a piece by a Czech composer and in 2006
the prize for a performance of piece by Mozart. This year he was chosen for
full scholarship at International Sommerakademie Prag-Wien-Budapest 2006
(www.mdw.ac.at/isa) and to perform at the opening concert of this event.
Since 2006, he's been a member of Piano Society, which presents his broad
catalogue of recordings (www.pianosociety.com).
