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  You are invited to the ISAM Gala Concert concert and prize giving ceremony held on Thursday 9th August 2012, 7pm, at the Bibliothekssaal Ochsenhausen (Landesmusikakademie Baden-Württemberg, Schloßbezirk 6, Ochsenhausen, 88416, Germany). Violinist Karen Bentley-Pollick, cellist František Brikcius, pianist Sabine Sauer-Essl and percussionist Aurélien Hadyniak will feature brand new music written by winners of the Joseph-Dorfman-Composition Competition.

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http://www.ISAM-Masterclasses.de
http://www.OferBenAmots.com/ISAM
http://www.Landesakademie-Ochsenhausen.de

František Brikcius: Mr. Jirásek, you took private composition lessons with Prof. Miroslav Raichl and you studied composition with Prof. Zdeněk Zouhar at the Janáček Academy of Music (JAMU) in Brno. How did both composers influence you?

Jan Jirásek: I have to admit that I liked both of my teachers. But I did not want too much to be under their influence. My growth as a composer was affected by many other people as well.

F. B.: During your studies at the JAMU, you already worked as music editor and producer of the Czech Radio, where you worked till 1994. Can you describe what were your main activities?

J. J.: I worked at the Czechoslovak Radio in Hradec Králové since 1983 and left for the Czechoslovak Radio in Prague in 1986. My field was contemporary music. It was not an easy situation for me because a lot of composers asked their music to be recorded and aired. In the old regime something like that brought
a lot of complications.

F. B.: In 1991 you won the Czech Music Foundation Award for the composition Labyrinth. Did it affect your professional career?

J. J.: Any award is a positive motivation. This one did not much affect my future career.


F. B.: Since 1996, when you won one year visiting professor Fulbright Fellowship in the USA, you are annually teaching at various universities in the USA (Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, Colorado College in Colorado Springs, University of Colorado in Boulder). Could you compare professional life of composer in North America and Europe?

J. J.: A composer writes his music no matter on which continent he lives at that time. Important is to find a good performers/ensembles for your music. I was always lucky to find good people, publishers, recording companies.

F. B.: Just before you left to the USA, as part of the Fulbright Fellowship, you wrote music for the film An Ambiguous Report About the End of the World (1997) by Juraj Jakubisko. You were awarded the prestigious film music prize the Czech Lion (1997) for this movie. Your cooperation followed years later on his film Bathory (2008), which was realised in difficult conditions in international production. How would you describe cooperation with legendary Slovak director?

J. J.: My first cooperation with Juraj and Deana was on the film "An Ambiguous Report about the End of the World". They are no easy persons to work with. Juraj is a very curious kind of a director trying all possible combinations. The composer is supposed to adjust to his imagination immediately.

F. B.: How did you create music for the film Wild Flowers (2000) by Czech director of photography and director František Antonín Brabec? You were awarded another prestigious film music prize the Czech Lion (2000) for this movie. What is your relationship to literature?

J. J.: I wrote the score for "Kytice" (Wild Flowers) within six weeks including the post production. I liked the director's concept because the topic is very dramatic, mysterious and spiritual.


F. B.: You are one of the six composer composers of project "Prague - Brno: 6 Contemporary Composers for Solo Cello in the Interpretation of František Brikcius" held under the auspices of Václav Havel and featuring your composition Dilemma. Why Dilemma?

J. J.: I wrote the "Dilemma" in 1987. My family and me wanted to leave the country because of the communist regime. It was a big dilemma for all of us.

F. B.: What are you working on at the moment?

J. J.: Now, I am working on a new film by Jiří Strach. Its title is "Šťastný smolař". what could be eventually translated like "A Lucky Loser". Despite its title, the movie (a fairy tale) is very funny. Then I'll start working on a commission to write a ballet for the National Theatre in Prague.

F. B.: Pen and music paper or computer? Eventually Finale or Sibelius?

J. J.: I use computer, it's a more sophisticated pen for me. I use Sibelius, for film scoring I use Logic Pro.

F. B.: Have you experienced anything nice recently?

J. J.: I enjoy all positive faces of life. A lot of things can make me happy - that my family and I are healthy and we can do jobs we love. The happiness for me is not having what you want to have or posses but to want what you have already.

F. B. Thank you for your time and answers.

  For more information about Jan Jirásek visit http://www.Brikcius.com , http://www.JanJirasek.com , http://www.CSFD.cz and http://En.Wikipedia.org/Wiki/Jan_Jirásek .

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