Curriculum vitae

Jachym Novotny, born in September 1986 in Teplice, Bohemia. He comes from a musical family, his maternal grandfather was a composer, his father a bassoonist. From an early age he studied piano, first at the Primary Art School in Prague in Simackova Street, and later privately with Petr Bazala. He grew up in Prague, although his roots are in northern Bohemia in the Zelezny Brod region. While still in primary school, he attended a course in drawing, painting and graphic arts with Prof. Vlastimil Esik. He graduated in Reproduction Graphics at the Secondary Polygraphic School in Prague, (nowadays the Secondary School of Media Graphics and Printing) and tried his hand at Chemistry at the University of Pardubice. He returned to music in 2012, where he started to study the newly established music major with a focus on contemporary composition with Prof. Ondrej Stochl and later with Prof. Jiri Lukes. Here he also continued to play the piano. As a compulsory subject he took lessons with Prof. Irena Ratkos-Spinler and later with Prof. Dorothea Fleischmann. He achieved success with his composition "To paint a birds’s portrait" for mezzo-soprano, cello, flute and piano, which is a setting of a poem by Jacques Prévert in a Czech translation by Adolf Kroupa. In 2016 it was awarded by the Association of Music Artists and Scientists at the international competition GENERATION of Young Composers under 30. There are plans to perform it in the French original with a revised libretto. He has also written several pieces for chamber ensemble and solo piano. He also wrote his own text for the piece "Tears of the Water Dragon" for clarinet, piano and reciter. He will graduate in 2024 with "Lure of the Sea" for chamber string orchestra, flute, rainsitck and other percussion, to be performed as part of the Forfest festival on April 26, 2025. The festival also includes PostFest composition classes, in which he is a regular participant. The composition "Live, Live!" dedicated to the memory of Milada Horak, was premiered at the Music Olomouc festival in 2022 by Ensemble Terrible. He is also a carver, taking courses in Magdalena Mezl's studio. She is now focusing on building puppets.