Václav Luks - NOSPR

As founder and leader of the Prague baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 and the vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704, Václav Luks established himself as one of the leading conductors in the field of historical performance practice. With both ensembles he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Festival d'Aixen-Provence, Chopin Festival Warsaw, Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Theater an der Wien, Vienna Konzerthaus, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and as artist in residence at the renowned festivals Oude Muziek in Utrecht and Bachfest Leipzig. Their recordings have been awarded numerous prizes such as the Diapason d'Or and the German Record Critics' Award. In May 2021, Luks and the Collegium 1704 performed My Country on period instruments from the Smetana era for the opening of Prague Spring.

Václav Luks also increasingly works with modern orchestras and other baroque ensembles. He collaborates with the Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Handel and Haydn Society, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, among others.

Václav Luks received his musical education at the Conservatory in Pilsen and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (horn and harpsichord) as well as at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he specialized in historical keyboard instruments and historical performance practice with Jörg-Andreas Bötticher and Jesper Bøje Christensen. Already during his studies in Basel and in the following years he performed as a horn soloist of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin throughout Europe as well as in the USA, Mexico and Japan.