The conductor, composer and pianist Jan Kučera is one of the most versatile Czech artists. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory where he studied composing under Bohuslav Řehoř and conducting under Miriam Němcová and Miroslav Košler. Later he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts (Music and Dance Faculty) in Prague where he also studied conducting, this time under Vladimír Válek. As a composer, he has a wide reach. He writes symphonic compositions, chamber music as well as songs. He has composed over thirty scenic pieces for productions of Prague and regional theatres. As a conductor, he cooperates with leading Czech orchestras – the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) in particular. He is also active on the opera scene; he has presented his comical opera Rudá Marie (The Red Mary) at the New Stage of the Prague National Theatre. This opera is based on the cult radio series Rodinka Tlučhořových (The Tlučhoř Family) by Oldřich Kaiser and Jiří Lábus. In 2016 he presented his production of the opera La Cenerentola by Gioacchino Rossini. He also composed the music for and conducted the ballet productions The Three Musketeers and The Taming of the Shrew. He conducted the Wanted project with Dagmar Pecková and a new production of an epic scenic version of the Mass by Leonard Bernstein.
He has been the chief conductor of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra since the season 2015/2016.
