Vladimir Valek

Czech conductor and teacher Vladimír Válek was born in Nový Jičín, Czechoslovakia, on September 2, 1935. He studied trombone, viola and piano, then conducting, in Bratislava with L'udovít Rajter and in Prague with Robert Brock and Alois Klíma, then with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Graduating in 1962, Válek founded the Dvořák Chamber Orchestra in 1970 with musicians from the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, giving concert and radio performances. Invited by the Prague Symphony Orchestra, he toured America and Europe, then led the ensemble alongside Jiří Bělohlávek, alternating with his duties in the Netherlands with the Leeuwarden Orchestra. In 1985, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 2011. As well as touring the world, he records works by little-known Czech composers of all periods for the national label Supraphon. At the same time, from 1996 he led the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was principal guest conductor during Vladimir Ashkenazy's tenure, and from 2004 to 2007, he led the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, succeeding Bělohlávek. His reputation in the Central European repertoire led him to conduct other leading ensembles, before he turned to teaching at the Prague Academy. Honored with the Medal of Merit in 2010 by Czech President Václav Klaus, he received the Classic Prague Award for lifetime achievement in 2021. On February 16, 2025, Vladimír Válek died at the age of 89.