Tomáš Kačo: Genius pianist moves the Czech President and First Lady at Prague Castle
Composer and pianist Tomáš Kačo both entertained and moved the audience at his recent concert in Prague both through the melodies he selected and the way he performed them. His improvisations before Czech President Petr Pavel, First Lady Eva Pavlová, and a full audience in the Jízdárna (Riding School) at Prague Castle played with motifs from "campfire" and folk songs, "elevating", a song by the Nedvěd Brothers, "Stánky" [Little Tents], to the level of classical music, for example.
Kačo premiered his own new piece during the second part of the evening, joining forces with violinist Jiří Vodička of the Czech Philharmonic and young singer Natálie Kuchárová. He combines classical, jazz and Romani music into an accessible mix.
During the improvisational part of the concert, the pianist movingly riffed on a motif from the folk song “Široký, hluboký” [Deep and Wide], then on a tune by the Brontosauři called “Tulácký ráno” [The Tramp’s Morning], then dressed up “Holubí dům” [Pigeon House] by Jaroslav Uhlíř as jazz before finishing with an original arrangement of the song “Dej mi víc své lásky” [Give Me More of Your Love] by the band Olympic. He also aroused enthusiasm with a Csárdás including a “cembalom” passage.
Kačo and Vodička then premiered Kačo’s new composition, “Bach, Sarasate Tribute”, which honors both the Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach and Romantic-era violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. In the piece, among other influences, Kačo elaborates on one of the most famous classical music melodies, “Air on the G String” by Bach.
A recent graduate of the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory, the young singer Natálie Kuchárová, who was a ROMEA scholarship recipient, also joined Kačo for two pieces. She had been among the group of Romani students who recently met the President and First Lady at Prague Castle.
President Pavel gave his auspices to the musical evening. In the program notes, he wrote that both Kačo and Kuchárová are good examples of the fact that the arts and education have the power to transform lives and open doors to new opportunities.
Kačo dedicated the concert to everybody who aided him at the beginning of his career. He mentioned the former Vice-Chancellor of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Noemi Zárubová-Pfeffermannová, who initiated a collection to pay his tuition.
The musician is from Nový Jičín, where he is the fourth of 12 siblings in a Romani family. He began to play the piano intuitively at the age of five.
Kačo graduated first from the Janáček Conservatory and then from the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He won a competition for young composers and invested the money into auditioning for the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
After graduating, Kačo remained overseas and lives in Los Angeles, California. He has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City and at many other venues.
Kačo has also collaborated for many years with Czech orchestras, for whom he writes arrangements, and with Ida Kelarová. Now 30, he believes that music can be used as an effective weapon against prejudices and can aid with majority societies and minorities finding a common way forward.
His message also is that he achieved his professional successes thanks to his loved ones, his mentors and the teachers who believed in him. During this return to the Czech Republic he is also scheduled to receive a Silver Medal from the President of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil (Civic Democratic Party – ODS).
