The Kukal Quartet was founded in Autumn of 2020 by four exceptionally talented young musicians, who, notwithstanding their youth, have great respect for the legacy of the Czech quartet school. Eliška Kukalová, Klára Lešková, Simon Truszka and Vilém Vlček combine the traditional and the modern modern musical approaches which they acquired during their studies at prestigious universities in Vienna, Salzburg, Basel, Warsaw and Prague.

In May 2021, soon after their foundation, the ensemble attracted attention by winning third prize and the Laureate title at the Prague Spring International Music Competition. The quartet impressed at the competition primarily with; the liveliness and authenticity of their musical expression, the unique ensemble dynamics and the strong individuality of its members. The Quartet were inspired and mentored by leading personalities of the Czech music scene such as Peter Jarůšek (Pavel Haas Quartet), Jakub Fišer (Bennewitz Quartet) and Tomáš Jamník.

In the summer 2021 the quartet had the opportunity to participate in masterclasses with Yo- Yo Ma, Noah Bendix Balgley, Allan Nilles, Josef Špaček, Jan Fišer and Lukáš Vondráček. The quartet bears the name of the important Czech contemporary composer, Ondřej Kukal.

MatoušZukal(*1998) is a Czech pianist. He began his musical education at the City of Prague Music Grammar School under the guidance of Jitka Němcová. He studied at the Prague Conservatoire in the class of Ivo Kahánek. Matouš is currently furthering his education under the same professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

In 2021 he became a laureate of the Prague Spring International Music Competition and was awarded several special prizes, Gideon Klein Foundation Prize and Czech Centers Prize. During his studies he won main prizes at many competitions (The Broumov Key, Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte). Matouš became three times a laureate of the Young Piano of the Prague Conservatoire. He also became a noverall winner of the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition and was awarded a special prize for the best interpretation of Bohuslav Marinů’s work and Zorka and Jaroslav Zich’s prize.

In 2020 Matouš gave a recital at the Dvořák´s Prague festival as a part of the marathon of Antonín Dvořák’s complete piano works. In October 2021 he performed Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto at the festival Young Prague with the Czech Chamber Philarmonic Orchestra Pardubice.

Matouš also engages in chambre music, in 2019 he became a scholarship holder of Academy of Chamber music under czech cellist Tomáš Jamník. He performed with members of this organization on prestigious festivals such as Styriarte Grazandothers.

He is an active participant at masterclasses, and he consults with important pianist abroad such as Sir András Schiff, Boris Giltburg, Francesco Piemontesi, Lukáš Vondráček and others. In 2016, 2018 and 2019 he took part at masterclasses in Bergen, Norway under the guidance of Prof. Jiří Hlinka, Leif Ove Andsnes and other eminent pianists. In 2021 Matouš received a scolarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participated in the Intensive Music Week of prof. Milana Chernyavska.