Jana Boušková

Jana Boušková (born 27 September 1970) is a Czech harpist and pedagogue. She has been the principal harpist of the Czech Philharmonic since 2005. Boušková is also a professor at the Royal College of Music in London since 2019, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague since 2007, and she was the harp teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels from 2005 to 2020.
Early life and education
Jana Boušková was born in Prague on 27 September 1970. She is the daughter of flutist Jiří Boušek and harpist . She began playing the harp at a young age and gave her first recital when she was seven years old.
Boušková attended the Prague Conservatory and the University of Ostrava, where she studied under her mother. She graduated from the University of Ostrava in 1998, after years of distance learning. She recalled in 2017 that her mother was more demanding of her than other students, and that retrospectively, she is grateful to her for this. She also attended classes given by Alice Giles in Bayreuth, and studied under Susann McDonald at Indiana University Bloomington on a Fulbright scholarship.
Music career
Boušková won the Maria Damm Rensch Prize at the first USA International Harp Competition in 1989. Three years later, she won the gold medal at the second USA International Harp Competition. She later became the official soloist of the harp maker Lyon & Healy and plays the Lyon & Healy Style 30 concert harp that she received as a prize for winning the second USA International Harp Competition. Also in 1992, Boušková took second place at the eleventh Israel International Harp Competition. She won first prize at the Grand Prix Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Paris in 1998 and the Torneo Internazionale di Musica in 1999. Boušková also received the Czech Republic's 1996 Talent of the Year Award and the 2002 Czech Music Council Award, in recognition of her representation of Czechs on the international stage.
As a soloist, Boušková has performed with the Czech Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. She was chosen to premiere Sergiu Natra's Sonata in One Movement in 1999. Other works Boušková has premiered include Ravi Shankar's Sonata for Cello and Harp, alongside Mstislav Rostropovich, and Benjamin Yusupov's Concerto for Flute, Violin, Viola, Harp and Orchestra, alongside Maxim Vengerov and others.
Boušková was harp professor at the Prague Conservatory from 1993 to 2012. In 2005, she became professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Erasmus Brussels University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She was appointed professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2007 and took up the role of professor at the Royal College of Music in London in 2019. She has also taught at Indiana University Bloomington and the Geneva University of Music.
Personal life
Boušková is married to Jiří Kubita, a violinist with the Czech Philharmonic. As of 2010, the couple have two sons, and both children play the violin.
Selected discography
Boušková has contributed to numerous recordings for Czech and international record labels. The following list is compiled from her official website.
Zvěrokruh, 1992. ARTA Records, No.: F1 0030-2
Flöte und Harfe, 1992. Preiser Records, No.: PR 90154
Czechoslovak Chamber Orchestra Live in Concert, 1993. Antiphona, No.: AA0008-2231
Jana Boušková Harp Recital, 1993. Bohemia Music 1991, No.: BM 0002-2131
Jana Boušková Harp, 1993. Panton Records, No.: 81 1228-2031
Dona nobis pacem, 1994. Český rozhlas Ostrava, No.: UHL 002-2 231
Jan Ladislav Dusík, 1994. Panton Records, No.: 81 1289-2 131
Prague Salon at the Nostitz Palace (Harp Recital), 1994. Alfea a Pragokoncert, No.: 584006 – 2 111
Concertino II, 1995. PolyGram, No.: 454 146-2
Jana Boušková plays works by J. F. Fischer, 1995. Panton Records, No.: 81 1290-2 131
Jan Křtitel Krumpholtz – Concertos for Harp and Orchestra 1, 1996. Clarton, No.: CQ 0018-2 031
Emil Viklický – Homage to Josip Plečnik, 1996. Lotus, No.: LT 0036 – 2 131
Hindemith, 1996. Chandos Records, No.: Chan 9457
Snění, 1997. Supraphon, No.: SU 3368-2 231
Ai in Praha, 1997. Sony Music Entertainment, No.: KSC4 901
Balady, 1997. Forte + Vydavatelství bratří Nedvědů, No.: FOR 0009-2311
Jan Křtitel Krumpholtz – Concertos for Harp and Orchestra 2, 1997. Clarton, No.: CQ 0029-2 031
Rodolphe Kreutzer Six Nocturnes, 1997. Gramofonové závody Loděnice, No.: L1 0323-2 131
Jana Boušková plays Virtuoso Encores, 1998–2003. Panton Records, Bonton Music, Supraphon, No.: 71 0526-2
Kouzelné housle, 1999. Supraphon, No.: SU 3418-2 031
Solos for harp, 1999. Supraphon, No.: SU 3430-2 131
Harfenkonzerte, 1999. Ebs Records, No.: ebs 6085
International Music Festival Český Krumlov, 1999. Auviex, No.: AE 0019-2 031
Prague Holiday, 2001. Octavia Records, No.: OVCL-00050
Zpívání o lásce (Moravské lidové písně), 2001. Supraphon, No.: SU 5359-2 731
Paul Freeman Introduces Exotic Concertos, 2002. Albany Records, No.: B000QWOB2A
Romance, 2003. Octavia Records, No.: OVCC-00059
ZIPANG meets Boušková in Prague, 2003. Octavia Records, No.: OVCC-0149
Flûte & Harpe, 2003. Scam/Syrius, No.: SYR 141351
Otomar Kvěch, 2003. Radioservis ve spolupráci s OSA a Život umělce
French Chamber Music, 2004. EMI Music Germany, No.: 5 57798 2
Album lásky, 2004. Supraphon, No.: SU 3768-2 031
A la fantasia, 2005. Octavia Records, No.: OVCC-00008
Contemporary Czech Masterpieces Jan F. Fischer, 2005. Triga, No. Tri 0010-2031
Bohuslav Martinů Chamber Music with Viola, 2008. Supraphon, No.: SU 3952-2
Spannungen, 2008. Avi-Service for music, Deutschlandradio, No.: 8553100
Vánoční zpěvy a koledy, 2008. Radioservis, No.: CR 0433-2
Umění milovati, 2010. Clarton, No.: CQ 0086-2
Dvořák – Schumann – Reinmann (Spannungen), 2010. Avi-Service for music, Deutschlandradio, No.: 8553207
Foerster / The Complete String Quartets, 2010. Supraphon, No.: SU 4050-2
Winds & Strings, 2011. Avi-Service for music, Deutschlandradio, No.:8553261
References
External links
Jana Boušková at the Royal College of Music, London
1970 births
Living people
Academics of the Royal College of Music
Academic staff of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Czech classical harpists
Women harpists
Indiana University Bloomington alumni
Musicians from Prague
Czech music educators
Czech women music educators
Prague Conservatory alumni
Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels