Daniel Skála
Cimbalom player, composer, and improviser Daniel Skála (1981) studied cimbalom performance at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and composition at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava. He has won numerous awards as a cimbalom performer in competitions both at home and internationally. Notable performances include the La Biennale festival in Venice, the Bregenzer Festspiele with Ensemble Modern, and concerts with Amsterdam’s Asko/Schönberg Ensemble in California, and at Carnegie Hall in New York. Currently, he primarily focuses on composing and solo performances. As a soloist, his main goal is to expand the cimbalom repertoire by collaborating with composers worldwide. Known as a pioneer in cimbalom performance, he has designed his own concert instrument and continuously develops new playing techniques. He founded the cimbalom department at Ostrava University, which will launch in the 2025/2026 academic year, making Ostrava University the first institution in Czechia to offer this program.
He has composed numerous pieces for the cimbalom, in which he sought to expand the possibilities of this sonically unique instrument. However, his range as a composer extends much further. He has written music for choir, orchestra, chamber ensembles, and theater performances for children. Recent significant works include the “non-opera” Červený nos (Red Nose); the Studie obsahovosti (Content Studies) series, all written in graphic notation; the DeCliché project; and Zooooooo, a piece for five instruments and field recordings commissioned by the Prague Quiet Music Collective.
Photo by: Martin Popelar
