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Tomáš Hála

Biography

conductor Tomáš Hála was born in Prague. From 1978 to 1983, he studied piano (under Prof. Anna Bolcková) and composition (under Dr. Jindřich Feld) at the Prague Conservatory. While studying at the Conservatory he formed an ensemble called the Prague Conservatory Madrigalists (for public conserts and radio recordings). In 1982, his chamber opera Vejstupný syn (A Quarrelsome Son) was performed under his direction by the actors from Prague National Theatre at the Smetana’s Litomyšl Festival for Youth and at the Musical Youth Days in Prague. The opera was recorded by Czech radio and television (the score was published by DILIA). Between 1983 and 1990, he studied at the HAMU Musical Academy where he devoted himself to piano (under Prof. Josef Páleníček) and to conducting (under Prof. Václav Neumann). His studies at the Academy included stays, organised by the Czech Musical Fund, with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, and later with the National Theatre Opera in Prague under Zdeněk Košler. In 1990 he completed his studies by a concert at the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague where he conducted the FOK Orchestra. He also prepared a production of The Marriage of Figaro with the HAMU ensemble as the Prague DISK Theatre. In the same year he became the conductor of the Opera of the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice, where he realised the following productions: J. Offenbach’s operetta Beautiful Helen, F. Herold’s Fille mal gardée, and conducted W. A. Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. In 1991, he joined the opera ensemble of the National Theatre in Prague, as an assistant conductor and conducted the following operas: Mozart’s Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro; Verdi’s The Force of Destiny and Martinů’s ballet Polní mše (Drumhead Mass). In 1993, he performed Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the National Theatre’s opera ensemble. In the production Večer Victora Ullmana (An Evening with Victor Ullman) he performed as a solo pianist. Between 1984 and 1995, he collaborated with the chamber orchestras Ars cameralis and Gioia della musica where he played historical instruments. From 1991 to 1996 he conducted a series of concerts with the South Bohemian Philharmonic in České Budějovice. He participated in numerous festivals and was a frequent guest conductor (Weimar, Kroměříž, and Blankenburg). For several years he held the post of répétiteur for the Internationales Jugend Festspieltreffen in Bayreuth. In 1996, he was awarded a R. Wagner Foundation grant for a short-term post at the Bayreuth Festspiele, and two years later he left for a temporary engagement at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. The same year he conducted Francesca Conti’s opera as well as an opera evening composed of Mozart’s operas at the Valtice Festival. In 1999 he prepared with a great success, together with a French production team, a baroque opera Castor et Pollux by J.Ph.Rameau in The Estates Theatre. He frequently plays the piano at singing concerts.