
biography
A rich concert career of the Slovakian clarinetist Martin Adámek includes solo, chamber, and orchestral works. Appointed solo clarinet at the Ensemble Intercontemporain at the age of 19, he is already recognized as one of the most promising clarinetists of his generation.
Mr. Adámek has distinguished himself as a champion of contemporary classical music. He has given numerous world premieres, most notably Beat Furrer’s Clarinet Concerto under the baton of Matthias Pintscher at the 2019 Donaueschinger Musiktage Festival. Also in 2019, Martin gave two Slovak premieres: Magnus Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Clarinet Concerto “Peregrinus ecstaticus” with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra.
As an orchestral musician, Martin has performed under conductors such as Philippe Jordan, Christoph Eschenbach, Jonathan Nott, Peter Eötvös, and Thierry Fischer. While principal clarinetist of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, he performed at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Konzerthaus in Berlin.
In 2022, Mr. Adámek joined Trio Catch, an ensemble that has proven themselves to be ambassadors of contemporary music with more than 50 commission to their name, as well as fine interpreters of the classical repertoire.
He is also a co-founding member of the Alma Mahler Kammerorchester, which specialises in symphonic reductions of 19th and 20th centuries’ works, including original repertoire for chamber orchestra and chamber music of a range of styles and periods.
A guest artist at numerous international festivals, Martin has appeared at the Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Park Avenue Armory, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and many other concert halls in Europe, North America and Asia. He is the 2019 recipient of the Ľudovít Rajter Prize, given to Slovak artists of exceptional promise. As part of the prize, he recorded and released his first solo album, Unity, in 2020. He also appears on the Bastille music releases of DLW: Extended beats (2024) and with Trio Catch on their album Gassenhauer (2024).
Mr. Adámek received his education from the Conservatory of Bratislava (Slovakia) and the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno (Czech Republic), studying under Peter Drlička, Milan Polák, and Vít Spilka. At several masterclasses, he has had the opportunity to study with Charles Neidich, Yehuda Gilad, Harri Mäki, Philippe Berrod and others. Martin is the winner of the first prize at both the Leoš Janáček International Competition (Czech Republic, 2014) and the Clarinetto Concorso Carlino (Italy, 2013). He later appeared as a jury member at the 2019 Leoš Janáček International Competition.
Please use this biography without modification.
Omissions and amendments are only allowed after consultation.
September 2024