Kotkova Hana

Expert critics describe Hana Kotkovà as an excellent proponent of the famous Czech violin tradition. Her first featured appearance on the Czech musical scene was in 1997 when she won the Prague Spring International Violin Competition. She has graduated at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts and continued her music education with renewed teachers Josef Gingold in Greensboro, U.S. and Alberto Lysy at the Yehudi Menuhin International Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. Hana Kotkova lives permanently in Switzerland, where most of her musical activity now takes place. She has recorded the complete Eugène Ysaÿe violin sonatas for the Swiss television, gave master classes at Rencontres musicales in Blonay and took part in the Martha Argerich Project in Lugano. She has toured in Europe as well as in the United States with Yehudi Menuhin and Alberto Lysy and she gives recitals, often with the British pianist Simon Mulligan. In her native country, she has performed in prominent festivals. Since 2003 she has regulary performed at the Ostrava Days Festival, performing violin concertos by many contemporary composers (Feldman, Ligeti, Rihm, Francesconi and others). She performed Ligeti\`s Violin Concerto at the Lincoln Center, New York and made her debut at Carnegie Hall with Francesconi\`s Violin Concerto. In November 2012, Hana Kotkovà performed the US premiere of Morton Feldman\`s Violin and Orchestra as part of Byond Cage Festival at Lincoln Centre. She is leading her Kotkova Ensemble, with which she performed in Milano and Torino at the MITO Settembre musica festival and with which she is working on multimedia projects. With Iva Bittova she appeared this year at Sydney Festival. Hana Kotkovà plays a precious Italian Ferdinando Gagliano violin from 1775 and a modern instrument made for her in 1996 by the renewed Prague luthier Jan B. Spidlen.