Josef Špaček

• Name — Josef Špaček • Born — 17 October 1986 • Birthplace — Třebíč, Czechoslovakia • Instrument — Violin • Genre — Classical • Occupation — violinist, concert master • Years Active — since 1992

Špaček was born in 1986 in Třebíč, Czechoslovakia, to a family with musical tradition. His father, Josef Špaček Sr., is a prominent cellist with the Czech Philharmonic and his siblings have also studied music. Špaček started playing violin at the age of three and three years later started taking violin lessons in US and Czech schools including the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Prague Conservatory. Among his teachers have been Itzhak Perlman, Václav Hudeček, Ida Kavafian, Jaime Laredo, and Shmuel Ashkenasi.

Špaček finished his master's degree at the Juilliard School in 2011 and had received an offer to serve as the concert master of the Czech Philharmonic already in late 2010. He took up the job in 2011 and worked both in the orchestra and as a solo violinist. In 2020 he left his concertmaster position in order to focus exclusively on his solo career. In 2012, he was one of the finalists at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and is a laureate of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand, 2009), Carl Nielsen International Music Competition (Denmark, 2008) and others.