The Kollert Family

Eduard Kollert was born into a family of pianists. After attending a concert by Josef Suk with his father, he decided to pursue both violin and piano.

Less than seven years old, he began studying violin at the Music School of the Capital City of Prague while simultaneously learning piano under the guidance of his parents. Two years later, he made his solo debut with PKF – Prague Philharmonia, performing Bach’s Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in the same evening.

Soon afterward, he was invited by the Spanish royal family to perform at the Royal Palace of El Prado in Madrid. The following day, the concert organizers introduced him to the legendary teacher Zakhar Bron, who immediately accepted him into his academy in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Eduard has won numerous prestigious international competitions, including Young Virtuosos in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the Nutcracker television competition in Moscow.

He regularly performs across Europe, Russia, Jordan, and Japan at prestigious events such as Interlaken Classics, Moscow Meets Friends Festival, the Young Prague Festival, Bohuslav Martinů Days Festival, the Prague Spring Festival, and Expo 2020 in Dubai.

He has collaborated with prominent orchestras, including the Russian National Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budafoki Dohnányi Orchestra, PKF – Prague Philharmonia, and Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Zlín.

Eduard has also appeared in numerous television and radio shows. In 2020, he performed in the multi-episode TV show Virtuosos alongside global stars such as Plácido Domingo, Thomas Gottschalk, and Ida Nowakowska.

source: Jiří Kollert

Since the age of three, Richard would visit his brother’s violin lessons with Zakhar Bron, later becoming his student at the Zakhar Bron Academy. He began playing the violin at the age of five.

Six months later (still at the age of five), he performed Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto at a concert with PKF – Prague Philharmonia and soon after appeared at festivals in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and Japan.

In May 2016, he performed at the United Nations Global Compact Summit in Prague, representing the host country. To mark his 10th birthday, he played Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with PKF – Prague Philharmonia. The following year, at the age of 11, he performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra.

A major milestone in his career came when he won Second Prize at the prestigious Nutcracker International Television Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow. In the finals, he performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra at the Tchaikovsky Hall. In addition to his prize, he received two special awards—an exclusive interview in the Musical Life magazine and an invitation to perform at Vladimir Spivakov’s Moscow Meets Friends festival. Russian media quickly embraced him, referring to him as a “child prodigy” and a “Mozart child.”

In 2021, Richard participated in the Virtuosos talent show organized by Hungarian television, where he won the Special Prize, the Maestro Plácido Domingo Prize, the Orchestra Prize (which included an invitation to perform with an orchestra), and the Audience Award. Later that year, his mentor Plácido Domingo introduced him as a “rising star” at the opening concert of the 30th Český Krumlov International Music Festival, where Richard performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Kohn.

He also appeared in the New Year’s concert at the Bartók Hall in Müpa Budapest and was honoured with numerous concert invitations from the Virtuosos management for performances in Hungary and abroad, including Expo 2020 in Dubai.

In 2022, Richard won Third Prize and the Best Czech Participant award at the Concertino Praga international music competition, performing Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Dvořák Hall in Rudolfinum. He also performed at a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of Viktor Kalabis in the Martinů Hall at HAMU.

In March 2023, Richard performed alongside Maestro Plácido Domingo in Budapest. In September of the same year, he played Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with conductor Stanislav Vavřínek and the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice at the closing concert of the Zlatá Pecka Festival.

In 2023, he won first prize at the Astana Violin competition. Since September 2023, he has been studying at the Prague Conservatoire under Jiří Vodička.

In March 2024, he performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House. Later that year, in September 2024, he won first prize in the senior category at the Henryk Wieniawski and Karol Lipiński International Violin Competition in Poland.

Richard frequently appears on television, radio, and in magazine interviews. In 2021, he was featured in the Czech Television documentary Talent.

source: Jiří Kollert

After studying at the Conservatoire and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Jiří Kollert continued to develop his talent in Paris under the guidance of Eugène Indjic (a student of Arthur Rubinstein) and Germaine Mounier from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. He further expanded his musical education with Jerome Lowenthal at The Juilliard School and with other distinguished artists.

He performs primarily in Europe and regularly in Japan. He has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek, Leoš Svárovský, Jakub Hrůša, Serge Baudo, and Sachio Fujioka. He has played with leading orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, The Prague Philharmonia, Slovak Philharmonic, and the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has appeared successfully at prestigious festivals such as the Prague Spring Festival, the Bohuslav Martinů Festival, Expo 2005 in Aichi, and many others.

Early in his career, he established himself as a leading performer of Czech music for the Japanese recording company Octavia Records. His debut album featured piano works by Bohuslav Martinů, followed by a recording of works by Josef Suk. He also prepared an edition of Suk’s piano works for Zen-on.

In 2006, during the Mozart anniversary celebrations, he recorded an album with the Czech Philharmonic and performed Mozart’s works with other leading orchestras and in numerous recitals.

For NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, he recorded a series of programs featuring Czech music as part of PianoPia, a show in which world-class pianists present an overview of piano repertoire. His recordings received significant acclaim and were ranked among the best in PianoPia Special the following year.

A particularly remarkable success was the inclusion of his recordings in the prestigious Sony Music International selection, which the company released on DVD.

Ten years ago, he surrendered part of his solo career to nurturing the musical talent of his sons. However, he sees this not as a limitation, but rather as an enrichment of his own musical perspective, allowing him to gain deeper insight into the world of violinists through collaboration with leading violin pedagogues.

Alongside his performances with Kollert Family, he has recently returned to solo recitals and concerts with orchestras. He is also frequently invited to lead masterclasses and serve as a jury member for international competitions.

source: Jiří Kollert