Lada Valešová | piano
Pianist Lada Valešová continues to make an indelible mark with her original artistry, imaginative music exploration and dramaturgy. Her album of Czech Piano Music Intimate Studies, followed by her second album Dumka (Avie Records), have received universal international critical acclaim. Inspired by her Czech and Russian heritage, and having lived and worked in London for the last twenty years, Lada enjoys exploring and presenting to the public lesser known repertoire with Slavic and middle European links.
Lada graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and Prague Music Academy, followed by London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she is now a professor. She has been taught, amongst others, by late pedagogue Valentina Kameníkova, one of the most prominent pianists in former Czechoslovakia, and Eugene Indjic, a pupil of Arthur Rubinstein. Her playing has been further refined by her studies with James Gibb and Paul Hamburger at the Guildhall School.
Lada has won several honours including two awards at the International Smetana Piano Competition, Best Piano Duo, and the Alexander Wise Memorial Prize for the best performance of Romantic music. She has earned recognition from eminent artists such as Sir George Solti and Sir Charles Mackerras.
As both a solo and collaborative concert pianist Lada is in high demand with recitals and creative projects in UK and Europe, and as far overseas as New Zealand. Her debut at the Wigmore Hall earned her the claim that she is “one of the most gifted accompanists of all” (Musical Opinion). She has performed at St John’s Smith Square, at the Royal Opera House, and continues to appear in festivals and concerts in the Czech Republic in venues such as Dvořák Hall in Prague as well as in prestigious concert series such as Czech Philharmonics Chamber Music Society. In the UK, she has performed at festivals including the Three Choirs Festival, the Oxford Lieder Festival and the St Endellion Music Festival.
She has been featured on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, as well as on European, New Zealand and US radio stations.
In 2017 she will perform in a highly anticipated production of Janáček’s Diary of One who Disappeared under the direction of Ivo van Hoven, world renown director, and founder of the Toneelgroep Amsterdam Theatre Company.