Frantisek Brikcius - cello

Czech cellist František Brikcius was born in Prague, into a family with a distinguished cultural background. He has been playing the cello since early childhood. Following his cello studies at the Prague Conservatoire, he completed his Master's degree at the Janáček Academy of Music (JAMU) in the Czech republic. He furthered his cello skills at the Toho Gakuen Academy in Japan and later under the guidance of legendary cellist Prof. Anna Shuttleworth (student of Pablo Casals) in the United Kingdom (Eton Cello Master Classes and the University of Leeds).

František chose to dedicate his life to the interpretation of cello compositions written by composers of the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, giving special consideration to compositions for solo cello. His favourites are cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Reger, Ernest Bloch and Benjamin Britten.

He is particularly involved in researching, studying and performing works by Czech (Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů, Josef Suk and Irena Kosíková), Jewish & Terezín (Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff, Zikmund Schul, Jaromír Weinberger, James Simon and David Popper) and contemporary composers (Conrad Beck, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Benjamin Britten, Henri Dutilleux, Wolfgang Fortner, Alberto Ginastera, Cristobal Halffter, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Holliger, Klaus Huber and Witold Lutoslawski), playing on a "George Kriwalski" cello made in 1904.

More can be found at: www.Brikcius.com

Concert Dates

  • Decmember 3rd, 2022 - Virtual Performance

15 one-minute selections for Frantisek Brikcius

  • The song my father never taught me

    Nicholas Batina

    The song my father never taught me is an expansion on the classic Dvořák tune, one that conveys a moodiness and heavier tone. As the lone musician in his family, Nick felt himself an outsider in life philosophy. This piece captures an element of that feeling, through a cherished theme.

    As a New York based Composer and Violinist, Nick is constantly pushing the cutting edge of contemporary chamber music, with a focus on ensemble interaction. Under the wing of Michael Gordon at NYU, Nick is expanding the field through interest in psychology, genre-mixing, spectral inklings, and a focus on joy.

  • Grey Clouds in August

    Ray Boyle

    The piece is a premier and is dedicated to the Cellist Frantisek Brikcius. It is an expression of uncertainty, sadness and hope that can be overcome with reflection and the passing of time. Grey clouds eventually pass to let the light in.

    I have been a composer and arranger for several years through various musical genres ranging from pop/rock composition, to composing music for theatre productions, both in the Gate Theatre Dublin and in the Dublin Fringe festival. I have composed several scores for animated shorts.

  • 6:32 Central

    Michael Coleman

    “6:32 Central” (2022) is a work for solo cello and is dedicated to František Brikcius as part of his participation in the Fifteen-Minutes-Of-Fame project. The title refers to the time the composer began writing “6:32 Central”.

    Michael Coleman has participated as composer/pianist in numerous new music programs and festivals in the U.S and Russia and has also had works performed in North & Central America, Europe, and Eurasia. He currently teaches at Pensacola State College and the University of West Florida.

  • Solitude

    Oluwatooni Debisi-Ajayi

    A piece to convey loneliness and isolation, dampeners of the human spirit.

    Oluwatooni Debisi-Ajayi is an 18 year old composer from Northampton, England. His most recent accomplishment came in July 2022, where he won the Malcolm Arnold Composition Award.

  • Dreams in Motion

    Zoe Felton

    Dreams in Motion, written for František Brikcius, took inspiration from the alternating bowed/pizzicato passages of Tance krále Leara by Miloš Štědroň. Starting dreamily, it gradually picks up speed and movement, returning briefly to the original theme before taking off again and finally arriving in a state of relaxation.

    Majoring in composition, Zoe has spent the last 15 years teaching clarinet, saxophone and piano alongside raising her family. Composing has always been her passion though, with a greater emphasis over the last 5 years and a development into orchestral writing. Performances include Ruach (Air in Motion) and Sailscape.

  • Piccole variazioni Chava

    Carlotta Ferrari

    The piece is a tiny set of variations on the klezmer melody "Chava".

    Carlotta Ferrari (1975) is an Italian composer who has developed a personal language that is concerned with the blend of past and present. Her compositions have been performed frequently around the world and appear on several CDs. Her research interest lies in modal-inspired compositional techniques.

  • A Simple Comfort

    Addison Hightower

    A Simple Comfort is meant to offer a short, but sweet relief from any concerns that the listener may have. Its meaningfulness does not come from motivic development or any profound explorations, but rather from its varied colors, playful character, and pure simplicity.

    Addison Hightower is a young composer violist from Bloomington, Indiana and is currently in his freshman year at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Don Freund. He has also previously studied with Andrew Mead as well as Jeremy Podgursky.

  • What if ? (Et si ?)

    Christine Jeandroz

    What if this meeting was different from the others? What if it was possible to truly love each other? What if resilience was the solution to a peaceful love? What if loving yourself was the beginning of the solution? What if everything was possible?

    Christine Jeandroz, French pianist, author and composer, has written mainly for chamber music, a capella choir, chamber orchestra. She has composed a concerto for harp and orchestra, Liberta, an opera in 5 acts, Icare l'héliotrope as well as Vision d'un autre dans un nouvel Univers... for solo cello.

  • Fullness of Time

    E.B. Kerr

    Given the opportunity to consider restriction of time, ‘Fullness of Time’ explores music as the experience of time. Resisting the structure of metric modulation and instead imposing minute instances of the plasticity of time within time, it pushes gently at the edges of the moment.

    Kerr’s emerging compositional practice investigates the space between performer and the ears of the listener, which may also be the ears of the performer. She is interested in an engagement with what happens to sound between performance and perception and the way performance inevitably becomes part of the composition.

  • Gone in 60 seconds

    Irena Kosíková

    Gone in 60 seconds for solo cello (2022) / dedicated to František Brikciusture. I hoped to capture a scene of playful and mischievous foxes.

    Czech organist and composer Irena Kosíková. Her works have been performed in the Czech Republic, Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Israel, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Sweden and in the United Kingdom. She specialises in the interpretation of organ works written by Johann Sebastian Bach. She resides in France. Visit https://www.iKosik.com .

  • The Enchanted Cavern

    Billie Reason

    A shimmering, sparkling lake is nestled deep underground; over time it has carved itself a cavern. The waters are illuminated by an ethereal glow - what secrets are hidden in its depths?

    I'm a 17-year-old composer, musician and artist, who is currently studying at the Junior Department at the Royal College of Music. I'm also a passionate pianist and cellist who loves the arts - creativity and experimentalism are at the heart of everything I do.

  • Elephants and a fly

    Michal Slais

    This piece of music is about two elephants (a mom and a baby) and a fly. These elephants are on their way home and in the meantime the naughty fly is disturbing them. Will the elephants get rid of the fly, or will the fly keep disturbing the elephants?

    Michal is an 11 years old composer from the Czech republic, He loves to play the violin and piano. Since 2019 he has been studying composition at ZUS Orchidea in Brno. He loves music and composing gives him the opportunity to show how he feels and sees the world around.

  • Reaching for More

    Frederick Alden Terry

    Reaching for More is an opportunity to explore a compressed process of action and achievement. From inner thought to action, it stretches and then resets itself, again and again, making headway through intermediary plateaus––always striving, always wanting more, reaching ever, until the final sigh of accomplishment.

    Frederick Alden Terry is a composer/orchestrator who plays cello and bass. He focuses on the theatrical in all of its varieties and vagaries. Terry holds degrees from NYU/TSOA and the University of Utah. A commissioned composer, his works have been featured in theatres, recitals, film, dance venues, and podcasts.

  • Haunted Woods or Super-Hearing

    Carol Worthey

    As I walked alone in the woods (at thirteen, studying composition near Tanglewood) a cello sounded this very theme, transfixing me. I searched for the cellist — no-one was there. Was I in a haunted woods, or (more likely) creating something so visceral it vibrated in my ears... and heart?

    Inspired by family friend Leonard Bernstein, Carol began composing at four. A piano work composed at ten was premiered at Carnegie Hall. Mentors include Darius Milhaud, Vincent Persichetti and Walter Piston. Her heartfelt music has been performed around the world by renowned performers.

  • Affirmation

    Mark Zuckerman

    Affirmation picks its way from its opening assertion, making a persistent climb (sometimes by degrees, sometimes by bounds) to a triumphal reassertion.

    Mark Zuckerman (b. 1948) has written extensively for virtuoso soloists, chamber ensembles, choirs, wind ensemble, orchestra, and string orchestra, with work acclaimed as “intriguing music of deceptive simplicity ... subtle, persuasive and, quite simply, beautiful” and “highly accessible … quite moving.”