Jiří Houdek
Jiří Houdek (born 1979) began playing the trumpet under the guidance of his father Jiří Houdek Sr, and he later graduated from the Prague Conservatoire. He studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and furthered his education at several masterclasses at home and abroad, mentored by excellent teachers and musicians.
In 1995, at the jubilee 30th edition of the international radio competition Concertino Praga, he won both 1st place among the young Czech musicians and 1st place in the international category. He has performed solo with a number of Czech orchestras, including the Prague Philharmonia, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, etc. Even as a youth, he recorded his art on CD (released in 1996) – besides concertos by Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Jospeh Haydn, he also recorded Vivaldi’s Baroque double concerto with his father. In 2014 he was invited by the violinist Gabriela Demeterová to perform Bach´s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, known for its highly demanding trumpet part.
Since 1999 he has served as principal trumpeter of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and since 2008 he has held the same post in the orchestra of National Theatre in Prague. He is also a regular guest performer for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Solistes Européens Luxembourg. In 2018 he released an album with compositions by Baroque masters the likes of František Xaver Richter, Leopold Mozart, Michael Haydn, and Jan Křtitel Neruda recorded with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Vojtěch Spurný. In 2022 he released his latest CD titled Trumpet Masterpieces (Radioservis).
In September 2022 he joined the ranks of the Schagerl Artists, and the world-famous Austrian firm Schagerl produces the instruments he currently plays.
