"The marvelous Jan Gottlieb Jiracek thrilled the world so
greatly when we first heard him and he is continuing his
brilliant career both in the United States and
abroad."
VAN
CLIBURN
Born into a German-Czechoslovakian family of musicians,
32-year-old German pianist Jan Gottlieb Jiracek was
described by BBC Music Magazine as one of the leading
pianists of his generation.
He won the first prize at the Steinway Competition in
Hamburg at age ten, and made his formal debut the following
year in his hometown of Hanover, performing a piano
concerto by Mozart. Mr. Jiracek has since performed
extensively throughout Europe, including recitals at the
Herkulessaal Munich, Philharmonie Berlin, Steinway Hall
London, Salle Cortot Paris, Palau de la musica Barcelona,
Tonhalle Zurich, Konzerthaus Vienna, Musikhalle Hamburg and
the Gewandhaus Leipzig, as well as orchestral appearances
with the Berlin and St. Petersburg Philharmonics, Cologne
Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the
Northern Sinfonia of England.
A top prize winner at both the 1996 Busoni Competition and
the 1996 Maria Canals Competition, Jan Gottlieb Jiracek was
a finalist at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition in 1997, where he was a favorite of critics and
audiences alike. Following his success at the Cliburn
Competition, he was invited to join the roster of Community
Concerts, resulting in more than 80 performances throughout
the United States. Recent engagements included recitals at
the Tilles Center at Long Island University, the University
of Vermont Lane Series, and Spivey Hall in Atlanta. He also
performed with the Washington Chamber Orchestra at the
Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Riverside Symphony
at the Lincoln Center in New York and with the Fort Worth
Symphony Orchestra at the recently opened Nancy Lee and
Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, performing three piano
concertos, including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in
blue.
Jan Gottlieb Jiracek has been featured on several European
radio and television stations, including ZDF, SFB Berlin,
Deutschlandradio, Radio Hilversum, Radio Stockholm, and
Radio France, and on NDR as a soloist with the NDR Symphony
Orchestra.
A 1997 graduate of the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, he
studied with Hans Leygraf and has performed in
masterclasses with Alfred Brendel and Bruno Leonardo
Gelber, among others. Jan Gottlieb Jiracek gives master
classes on a regular basis in America and Asia, as well as
at the "Wiener Musikseminar". He was appointed professor
for piano at the prestigious School of music in Vienna,
Austria ("Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst
Wien”) in 2001, making him the youngest tenured
professor in the history of that school.