Music of Old Czech Masters

Shizuka Ishikawa won first prize in a national competition in Japan in 1966, followed by another first prize in the Tokyo Radio Competition in 1969 and first prize in the international radio competition Concertino Praga.

Already in Tokyo she became a pupil of Prof. Marie Hlouňová, who was already teaching there. Ishikawa followed her to Prague, where she studied from 1970 as a scholarship student of the Czechoslovakian Academy of Music. She studied at the Radio Academy of Performing Arts in Warsaw. Later she won prizes at the international competitions of Henryk Wieniawski in Poznań (1972), Queen Elisabeth in Brussels (1976) and Fritz Kreisler in Vienna (1979).

At the age of nineteen she played her first solo with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and at twenty-one she played for the first time at the Prague Spring Festival. She toured Japan with the Czech Philharmonic. As a soloist with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, she has performed in many European music centres and at festivals in Warsaw, Zagreb, Budapest and Helsinki. In the late 1970s she began making radio and gramophone recordings. Many of her performances have been with the Czech Philharmonic and Brno Philharmonic, the Dvořák Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Capella Istropolitana and the Würtemberg Philharmonic.

In her repertoire, Czech music has a prominent place. Virtuoso violin literature is also strongly represented in her programmes.

Since 1997, in addition to her solo activities, she has also been a member of the Kubelík Trio, with which she regularly performs on chamber music stages around the world.

She has recorded over 50 titles for Supraphon, Gramofonové Závody, ICN Polyart Prague, LOTOS, Octavia Records – EXTON and ADEL.

For the record, the translation of Shizuka Ishikawa’s name is poetic. The English one would be called “Quiet Stone River”.

Radek Baborák, chief conductor of the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, is one of the most prominent personalities on the world music scene. In more than 35 years of international performances as a solo horn player and conductor, he has earned an exceptional reputation with the most important orchestras and festivals. With his extensive experience as a horn player, Baborák brings a unique perspective and expertise to his conducting career. His conducting style is known for its precision, musicality and deep understanding of the pieces he performs. He is able to interpret and convey the emotions and nuances of the music, creating captivating and memorable concert experiences that are appreciated by critics and music-loving audiences alike. His repertoire ranges from works by the masters of Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century music to works by living composers whose works he has premiered.

As a soloist he has appeared with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics and many other top orchestras under conductors such as James Lewine, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Roger Norrington, Jiří Bělohlávek, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

In 2011 he expanded his musical career to include conducting. His mentor is Maestro Seiji Ozawa, whom he assists with the Mito Chamber Orchestra, which he regularly conducts.
He founded and artistically directs the Czech Sinfonietta Orchestra, which performs at renowned festivals in the Czech Republic such as Prague Spring, Dvořák’s Prague, Smetana Litomyšl and others. He has achieved extraordinary success at these festivals, accompanying soloists such as Marta Argerich, Jefim Bronfmann, Sergej Nakarjakov, Ricardo Galliano and Guy Braunstein.
As a conductor he has worked with the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Thuringian Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the New Japan Symphony Orchestra, the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, the SOČR, the FOK, the Prague Philharmonic and others.

Since 2016 he has been the artistic director of the Prague Chamber Soloists.
He is intensively involved in chamber music, especially with the Baborak Ensemble, which is regularly invited to Mozartwoche Salzburg, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and on tour in Europe and Japan. For his ensemble he creates unique versions of works by composers such as J.S. Bach and Astor Piazzolla.

His musical partners in the more than 100 music festivals he has participated in include legends such as Daniel Barenboim, Marta Argerich, Heinrich Schif, Janine Jansen, Francoise Leleux, Emanuel Pahud, Ian Bostridge, Julian Rachlin and others.
As a solo horn player he has performed with the Czech Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.
He is a laureate of the most prestigious competitions in Geneva, Markneukirchen and ARD Munich.
He has dozens of award-winning recordings for EMI, Sony Classic, Suprafon, Octavia Records, Animal Music and Hänsler Classic.

As an associate professor he has taught at the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Bologna, Escuela Reina Sophia in Madrid, Hamu Prague and TOHO University in Tokyo. He is currently a visiting professor at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and a mentor at the MenArt Education Academy.
During the pandemic he initiated fundraisers for independent artists and subsequently supported Ukrainian musicians. Hundreds of colleagues supported these activities.

Radek Baborák is a guest conductor of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, a permanent soloist of the Brandenburg State Orchestra and in 2024 will make his conducting debut with the Slovak Philharmonic Bratislava, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra in London and the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Lviv.