David Kalhous

Pianist David Kalhous has gained recognition in Europe, the United States, and Asia for his elegant musicianship, brilliant pianism, and engaging programming. With a wide-ranging repertoire spanning over three centuries, his performances have been praised by The New York Times for their “virtuosity and focus,” while the New York Classical Review described his playing as “fascinating to the ears, mind and heart.”

He has appeared as a soloist with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, Prague Philharmonia, Israel Symphony Orchestra, and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, working with such conductors as Stefan Asbury, Libor Pešek, Eli Jaffe, Leoš Svárovský, Stanislav Vavřínek, and Marián Valčuha. As a recitalist and chamber musician, he has performed at the Rudolfinum in Prague; Symphony Space, Bargemusic, and Spectrum in New York City; the PianoForte Foundation and Ganz Hall in Chicago; the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C.; and the Seoul Arts Center. His festival appearances include the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, International Royal Cracow Piano Festival, Beethoven Festival in North Bohemia, and Festival Český Krumlov. He has also presented recitals at the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, Israel Contemporary Players series in Tel Aviv, and at institutions such as Yale University, Northwestern University, and the Eastman School of Music.

An active chamber musician, Kalhous performs regularly with violinist Benjamin Sung, with whom he performed the complete Beethoven sonatas across the U.S., and has toured the United States and Canada with the acclaimed Czech violin virtuoso Ivan Ženatý.

A dedicated champion of new music, Kalhous gave the Prague premieres of the first book of György Ligeti’s Études and Morton Feldman’s For Bunita Marcus. He has collaborated with composers such as Georg Friedrich Haas and David Lang, and his “Piano Music from Prague” project features commissions from eight leading Czech composers. Recently, he premiered works by Pedram Diba and other young Iranian composers as part of the Sounds of Freedom project. His discography includes a solo album for Arco Diva and 12 sonatas recorded for Czech Radio’s complete Scarlatti cycle.

David Kalhous is a Professor of Piano at Florida State University and serves as the Artistic Director of the Prague Piano Festival. He began his professional studies at the Prague Conservatory with Jaroslav Čermák and attended the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, the Academy of Arts in Prague, the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University, and Yale University. He has studied with Paul Badura-Skoda, Emil Leichner, Victor Derevianko, David Northington, and Peter Frankl. He also worked with Jerome Lowenthal at the Music Academy of the West and with Paul Lewis as a Gilmore Fellow. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University, where he worked with Ursula Oppens.