Biography

Adam Skoumal belongs to the young generation of Czech pianists. After studying at the Prague Conservatoire and the Academy of Performing Arts (under Jan Panenka and Peter Toperczer) he continued abroad at prestigious universities in the USA. He won scholarships first at the SMU School of Arts in Dallas, Texas and two years later at the Manhattan School of Music, New York, where he studied with Ruth Laredo. During his studies he participated in several international master-classes given by such pianists as Lazar Berman, Philippe Entremont, Eugen Indjic and Marián Lapšanský.

Adam Skoumal won 1st prize in the Czech Conservatoires Competition, and in 1998 he won 2nd prize in the Prague Spring International Competition. He was also a prize-winner in other international competitions: Portugal (Porto 1999), Italy (Pinerolo 1999), USA (T. Leschetizky Competition) and a finalist in many other comptetitions, such as the W. Naumburg Competition and East & West Artists Competition in New York. In 2001, he won the main prize at the Young Podium Festival in Carlsbad for his performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto. He is a composer as well. In the Prague Spring Competition, his playing of his own composition won a special prize for the best performance of a Czech contemporary piece.

Apart from his native country, Mr. Skoumal has performed in the USA, Japan, Egypt and in most of the European countries. He has appeared as soloist with leading Czech and Slovak orchestras (e.g., under the baton of Serge Baudo, Leoš Svárovský, Jakub Hrůša, Stanislav Vavřínek and Jiří Kout) and with the National Theatre Orchestra and also with the Bamberger Symphoniker led by Jonathan Nott. He has appeared several times in the Prague Spring, Prague Autumn, Janacek May Ostrava, Lípa Musica and Moravian Autumn festivals. In 2006, he premiered his First Piano Concerto with the Prague Philharmonia and he also played his Second Piano Concerto with the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia in the same year. In the spring 2008, world famous virtuoso Shlomo Mintz premiered Skoumal's composition for violin and piano called „Djinnia“ in Dubrovnik. Since then, Mr. Mintz played the piece several times on his tour through South America and also in Rome and Milano in Italy. Another violin composition, „Variations on a Gypsy Melody“, was chosen to be an obligatory piece in the International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland.

Beyond performing the traditional classical repertoire and seldom-heard concertos (Dvořák, Novák), Adam Skoumal often includes his own compositions. He also made several CD, Radio and TV recordings, including concertos by Rachmaninoff and Bach on Arco Diva label.