page_title: Leon Koudelak
section_title: Early life and career
hierarchical_section_title: Leon Koudelak / Early life and career
caption_attribution_description: English: Leon and Karl Scheit in Vienna 1981
context_page_description: Leon Koudelak is a Czech classical guitarist.
  He has toured internationally in most parts of Europe, Asia and the Americas. He inspired the composer Michael Buchrainer to write guitar music. In addition to his concert career, he co-founded the Liechtenstein Guitar Festival, the Asia International Guitar Festival in Bangkok and the Pattaya Classical Guitar Festival. For the XIV Festival Hispanoamericano de Guitarra, Manuel Zavala y Alonso described him as "La mano santa de la guitarra". In 1996 he released a CD with the major guitar solo works by Joaquin Rodrigo. Rodrigo wrote him a letter expressing great enthusiasm after listening to his CD about his interpretation. On the following concert tour, Koudelak played a complete program with works by Joaquin Rodrigo.
context_section_description: In his teenage years, Koudalek studied with guitarists and teachers including Karl Scheit (Koudelak was one of his last students) at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, at the Zurich University of Music and Arts with Konrad Ragossnig and was one of the few students of Julian Bream in Liechtenstein l.  He obtained a Bachelor's degree, a Master of Art Education degree, the Masters of Arts degree and the Magister (degree) in Vienna and  Zurich . During his time in Vienna he studied as well Contemporary Music with Roman Haubenstock-Ramati.
  Koudelak lived from 1983 to 1986 in Spain, learning with flamenco guitarists the flamenco technique. In that time he became a friend of the flamenco guitarist Merenge de Cordoba. Later he changed from the apoyando technique to a combination of apoyando and sin apoyar.
  Shortly after he became a prize winner of the guitar competition Fundación Jacinto e Inocencio Guerrero in Madrid, he was contacted by a Swiss concert agency with which he signed a long-year contract as well an exclusive contract with Tyrolis Music. In 1989 he recorded his first album with Tyrolis Music, Guitar Music from Spain, Mexico and Brazil, and in 1993 the CD Modern Works for Guitar. He performed at music festivals and concerts in Europe, in Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Greece or Liechtenstein. He performed premieres in Vienna of works by the composers Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Michael Buchrainer
  The 1996 album Joaquin Rodrigo - Guitar Music and the 1997 Pavana Triste were released by Tyrolis Music and led him to music festivals and concert halls.
caption: Leon Koudelak and Karl Scheit in Vienna 1981
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