Tomáš Kačo, composer, improviser and pianist of Romani origin, to perform in his home town and in the Czech capital
Tomáš Kačo, the globally successful composer, improviser and pianist of Romani origin, will be performing a Christmas concert in his home town of Nový Jičín, Czech Republic during advent. The performance is the first he has given in his home town since settling in the USA after completing his studies at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Silvie Marková informed the media of the upcoming event last month. Kačo will perform in the Beskydy Theater on 14 December.
During the recital he will perform compositions from his debut album “My Home” and his own arrangements of Christmas carols. He won an Amber Award (Cena Jantar) for the year 2018 in the Moravian-Silesian Region at the beginning of March 2019 in the Performer of the Year category and is among the Czech Republic’s most successful contemporary pianists.
Kačo has performed before a sold-out Carnegie Hall in New York City, among other eminent venues. By year-end he will have performed twice publicly in the Czech Republic.
He will be performing on 11 December in the Dvořák Hall of Prague’s Rudolfinum. “During my studies in Prague I frequently attended performances at the Rudolfinum quite gladly, I have always had great respect for that venue,” he says with a smile.
“Without exaggeration, I consider my solo debut at the Rudolfinum to be a dream come true,” the performer says. After the 14 December performance, Kačo will not be returning to the Czech Republic until July 2022, when he will perform with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia at a gala concert on the occasion of the launch of the Czech Republic’s EU presidency.
He is composing a new piece for that occasion, which he has named “Stronger Than Yesterday”. Critics say his music is “sui generis” because his way of combining classical music, jazz and music in the Romani tradition is so original.
His journey from playing a second-hand untuned upright piano in an apartment in Nový Jičín amidst a big family of Romani people living traditionally to playing a concert grand Steinway before a sold-out Carnegie Hall in New York has all the characteristics of the American dream. What lies behind this accomplishment is not just the necessary bit of good luck, but especially courage, curiousity, diligence and industry.
After graduating from conservatory in Ostrava and the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, he completed his studies at the Berklee College of Music in the USA. In 2018 he released his debut album, symbolically entitled “My Home”.
That was followed by five singles, gradually released last December, each of them symbolizing the dates of concerts that had to be cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kačo arranges and composes music for ensembles and orchestras as well as for film.
His ability to look at well-worn themes anew has been highlighted and he is frequently called “The Opener”. He performs in Europe and the USA, and in addition to Carnegie Hall he can boast of having performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. or at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Chicago.
