František Černý and Jan Geissel
International Double Bass Competition

Pavel Klečka

PKF – Prague Philharmonia · Jaroslav Deyl Conservatory, Prague

Pavel Klečka began his studies at the Kroměříž Conservatory with Prof. Miloslav Gajdoš and continued at the Janáček Academy in Brno with Prof. Miloslav Jelínek. During his studies he was successful in many competitions in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Since 1994 he has been principal double bass of PKF – Prague Philharmonia, where he also trains young double bassists for orchestral careers in the PKF Academy. In 2016 he joined the double bass section of the Prague State Opera. He is also active as a soloist and received the Euro Pragensis Ars award in 2015 for this work. He has appeared as a soloist with PKF – Prague Philharmonia and worked with conductors including Jiří Bělohlávek, Martin Turnovský, Jakub Hrůša and Emmanuel Villaume. With Adam Plachetka he performed Mozart's aria Per questa bella mano.

He taught at the Brno Conservatory from 1996 and since 2015 has taught at the Jaroslav Deyl Conservatory in Prague. Many of his graduates play in leading Czech orchestras; his student Adam Honzírek won the audition for principal double bass of the Czech Philharmonic while still in his fifth year at the conservatory.

Petr Ries

Czech Philharmonic · Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

Petr Ries (born 1978) graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Prof. Jiří Hudec. He started music at the age of seven with the piano, then studied cello with Rudolf Weiss at the art school in České Budějovice, who led him to the double bass. He gained a solid grounding with Václav Fuka of the Prague Conservatory and continued with Prof. Vladimir Bondarenko. A milestone came in 1995, when he joined the class of Prof. Miloslav Gajdoš at the Kroměříž Conservatory; in 1996 he won the Czech Conservatories Competition.

He took part in master classes and international competitions in Geneva, Dresden, Berlin, Lausanne, Michaelstein and Wells, and is a laureate of prestigious competitions including the Markneukirchen International Music Competition (1999), Moravian Autumn (1998, 2003) and the J. M. Sperger Competition in Michaelstein (2002). In the Talent of the Year 2002 competition he won 3rd prize and performed Koussevitzky's Concerto in F sharp minor with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra in a live broadcast.

Besides the Czech Philharmonic, he is a member of the Prague Chamber Soloists, Haydn Ensemble Prague and the Czech Philharmonic Jazz Band. He has taught at the Litomyšl summer master classes since 2003, was a professor at the International Conservatory in Prague from 2009 to 2015, and is a tutor at the Czech Philharmonic Orchestral Academy.

Ondřej Sejkora

Pardubice Conservatory · Brno Philharmonic

Ondřej Sejkora is a rising star of the double bass scene. He was born in Kunčí near Slatiňany, and his mother, leader of the local folk ensemble, guided his first steps in music. He started on the violin but soon switched to the double bass. He studied with Radek Pokorný at the local art school and graduated from the Pardubice Conservatory in 2019 in the class of Radek Pokorný and František Machač.

He is a laureate of the František Černý and Jan Geissel Competition (2016), overall winner of the František Simandl Competition in Blatná (2016) and the Pro Bohemia Competition (2013), and received an honourable mention at the Czech Conservatories Competition. He made his solo debut with Bottesini's Sonnambula fantasy with the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, and with the Barocco sempre giovane ensemble and Petr Pavíček he performed Bottesini's Gran Duo arranged for two double basses.

He is principal double bass of the Brno Philharmonic and teaches at the Pardubice Conservatory. He gives regular recitals with the pianist Kateřina Ochmanová and is the solo double bassist of the Bumblebass quartet.

Eva Šašinková

Plzeň Conservatory · Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

Eva Šašinková graduated from the Kroměříž Conservatory (M. Gajdoš) in 1993 and from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (J. Hudec) in 1997. In 2022 she completed her doctorate in music theory and pedagogy at the Faculty of Education, Charles University.

She won the International Double Bass Competition in Debrecen (1989), the 9th F. Gregora International Competition in Kroměříž (1992) and the Czech Conservatories Competition in Teplice (1993), and received awards at the ISB Competition in Mittenwald (1991), the Giovanni Bottesini International Competition in Parma (1992) and Bass 94 in Avignon (1994). She received the Czech Music Fund Award in 1992 and the Josef Hlávka Prize in 1996.

She focuses mainly on solo and chamber music, the Viennese violone repertoire and arrangements for solo double bass. She has worked with many distinguished artists, including Alfred Strejček, Radovan Lukavský, Martina Kociánová, Jitka Hosprová and Petr Šporcl. She plays in the Prague String Duo, the BohemiaBass duo and the Harmonia Praga chamber orchestra, and teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, the Faculty of Education of Charles University and the Plzeň Conservatory.

She has written numerous publications on music theory and pedagogy, including a series of music theory workbooks for art schools, the book Fundamentals of Double Bass Playing – Jiří Hudec (2020; German edition 2021) and Czech Performing Art – Leading Teachers of the Czech Double Bass School at the Turn of the Millennium (Karolinum, 2022).

František Výrostko

Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava

František Výrostko was born in 1980 in Martin, Slovakia. He studied double bass with Prof. Radoslav Šašina at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where he completed his doctorate in 2021 and has taught since 2022. He is a member of Cappella Istropolitana and the Ostravská banda, and works with ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Schallfeld Ensemble, UMZE, SEM Ensemble (New York), Camerata variabile, Quasars Ensemble and BraCk Players.

As a chamber musician he has performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Conservatoire de Paris, and festivals including Schleswig-Holstein, Darmstadt, Ultraschall Berlin, Prague Spring, Impuls Graz, Janáček May and Ostrava Days. As a soloist he has appeared with the Ostravská banda, BraCk Players, Quasars Ensemble and the Slovak Philharmonic. In 2021 he released Doublebassement, a CD of contemporary music.

His musical range is wide: besides the classical repertoire he plays contemporary music, jazz, pop and tango. He leads and produces the pop project Vtáci prelietaví, writes music for the theatre and has published several books of prose.

Filip Waldmann

Vienna Philharmonic

Following in his father's footsteps, Filip Waldmann took up the double bass, studying first at the Music Grammar School in Prague and then at the university in Linz, Austria. In 2009 he won the audition for the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, where he has for several years been deputy principal double bass. He regularly plays chamber music, especially historically informed Baroque performance, and is often invited to sit on double bass competition juries. He teaches privately, offering consultations and audition preparation.

Piotr Zimnik

Berlin Philharmonic

Polish double bassist Piotr Zimnik joined the Berlin Philharmonic in 2021. Before that he was deputy principal double bass of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and he has worked with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Deutsche Oper, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. He is also an active soloist and chamber musician and a regular member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

He began at the Frédéric Chopin Music School in Bytom and went on to study at the Janáček Academy in Brno with Miloslav Jelínek. He was a scholarship holder of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and studied at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. His awards include 1st prize at the International Double Bass Competition in Brno (2012), 3rd prize at the 7th J. M. Sperger International Competition in Andernach (2012) and 1st prize at the Yamaha Competition (Brno 2016).