About
A leading interpreter of the Central European piano canon, from Mozart and Beethoven to Janáček, and an award-winning recording artist, Jan Bartoš has appeared in solo recitals and with top orchestras and conductors on major stages worldwide. The BBC Music Magazine has described his playing as “gorgeous beyond words” and “quintessentially refined.”
Last season, Jan Bartoš debuted with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Jakub Hrůša performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Bamberger Symphoniker with Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto, also led by Hrůša, and Wiener Symphoniker under Petr Popelka performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5. He is also a regular guest at several major festivals including the Prague Spring Festival, the Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse.
This season, he makes his debut with the Enescu Philharmonic and returns to the Prague Radio Symphony under Jakub Hrůša, Brno Philharmonic with Dennis Russell Davies, among other orchestras, and joins the Pavel Haas Quartet for chamber music recitals. He tours Europe with Beethoven’s piano sonatas and performs the composer’s late sonatas as part of the complete cycle at the Singapore International Piano Festival.
Jan Bartoš stands at a rare confluence of the great European piano traditions, with a pedagogical lineage reaching back to Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Brahms. Among his most influential mentors were Alfred Brendel, Ivan Moravec, Leon Fleisher, Zenon Fishbein and James Tocco. His Czech teachers, Martin Ballý and Miroslav Langer, belonged to the school of Josef Páleníček, who studied in Paris with Alfred Cortot. Jan Bartoš reflects his artistic heritage in his continued engagement with the Central European pianistic tradition, which also includes the exploration of lesser-known works by composers such as Reicha, Ullmann, Kabeláč, and others.
His latest album features Viktor Ullmann’s Piano Concerto paired with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, both recorded with the Bamberger Symphoniker and Jakub Hrůša. In 2025, he released an album with the first complete version of Anton Reicha’s Piano Concerto, incorporating recently discovered pages, performed with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, alongside a live recording of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with the Vienna Symphony, both conducted by Petr Popelka. Previous albums include piano repertoire by Bedřich Smetana and Miloslav Kabeláč, awarded a 5-star review by the BBC Music Magazine and shortlisted for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. His recording of Vítězslav Novák’s Piano Concerto with Jakub Hrůša and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra was awarded the Best Classical Album by the Czech Academy of Music.
In 2019, Bartoš released a recording of solo piano works by Leoš Janáček. Gramophone selected the album as Editor’s Choice, noting that it “easily stands alongside reference Janáček offerings,” and NPR Music included the recording among the 10 Best Classical Albums of the Year, saying that “Apart from the late Rudolf Firkušný, Janáček’s pupil, no pianist has interpreted his music with enough subtlety – until now.”
Bartoš’s other notable CDs include a double album of Beethoven’s solo piano works and Mozart Concertos with the Czech Philharmonic and Jiří Bělohlávek. The Beethoven album received a 5-star review from the BBC Music Magazine: “Everything in this recording is outstanding.”
Jan Bartoš studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and holds a doctorate from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he currently teaches piano and chamber music. He is the Founder and Director of the international festival and institute Prague Music Performance, where he brings together classical, jazz, and experimental music in projects that cross established genres and institutional boundaries.