Petr Kotík
Petr Kotík (1942, Prague) has been an independent composer and musician throughout his professional life. As a conductor and flautist, he performs both his own compositions and works by composers whom he regards as relevant to his own musical concerns. Kotík’s activities have always been guided by his sense of contextual issues within contemporary art and music. His ability as a performer and organizer have enabled him to realize projects often thought to be unrealistic. The projects Kotík has undertaken succeed partly thanks to his association with outstanding musicians. He has founded and directed music ensembles both in the Czech Republic and the U.S. – Musica viva Pragensis (1961–1964) and QUaX Ensemble (1966–1969) in Prague; the S.E.M. Ensemble and Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble (1970)in New York; Ostravská banda (2005) and ONO Orchestra (2017) in Ostrava. He has also directed numerous projects – the festival “Music of Extended Duration” (1997) in Prague; Ostrava Days (2001), New Opera Days Ostrava (2012), in Ostrava; Beyond Cage Festival (2012) in New York. Although Kotík can be identified as a self-taught composer, he studied composition in Prague with Vladimír Šrámek and Jan Rychlík (1960–1963), and later at the Akademie für Musik in Vienna with Karl Schiske and Hanns Jelinek (1963–1966). Since the early stages of his career, Kotík has been influenced by the ideas and concepts of John Cage and later drew his inspiration from Gertrude Stein, R. Buckminster Fuller, and Ezra Pound. His work spans symphonic compositions, chamber works, and opera. Kotík is the artistic director of Ostrava Center for New Music and lives and works in New York City with occasional working visits to Ostrava and Prague.
