RAK Štěpán

Štěpán Rak, born in 1945 in Prague, is a world-class guitar virtuoso, composer and Professor of Guitar at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

His life and artistic path has been well documented in encyclopedias, in TV interviews here in the Czech Republic and abroad, on radio programs and in many other printed publications. 

In the year 2000, Štěpán Rak was historically and officially named the first Professor of Guitar in the Czech Republic. This title was bestowed upon him by President Václav Havel.

In 2001, he became the first guitarist to be invited to perform solo at the famed P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The concert was received overwhelmingly well, resulting in a second invitation. In that same year, he performed in Mexico with Alfred Strejček at the Vivat Comenius concert, held in honor of J.A. Komenský. This marked the second collaboration for the artists on the American continent.

Štěpán Rak then returned to perform at the P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow in 2002, where he also performed at the world-renowned Moscow Fall Festival. In that same year, the artist added Japan to the list of 73 countries where he had already performed.

In 2003, Kytara, Má Láska (Guitar, My Love), the book he co-authored with Jaroslava Urbanová, was released. The book was dedicated to several celebrities, founders of guitar schools in the Czech Republic, and first of all Professor Štěpán Urban. 

In February 2004, Štěpán Rak became the first Czech guitarist ever invited to China. At the theatre in Bejing he dazzled his audience with his Chvála čaje (In Praise of Tea) concert. In March of that year, he hosted the international festival for world-champion guitarists in California. His U.S. audience was mystified with his breath taking composition 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Later in 2005, the artist visited many venues in several other countries and at home in the Czech Republic while celebrating his 60^th birthday.

In November 2006, Štěpán Rak was presented with the gift of a lifetime, a one-of-a-kind stone guitar carved for him by the sculptor Jan Řeřicha. This guitar possesses extraordinary, resonating properties that the artist utilizes in his Kytaroterapie (Guitarotherapy).

At the end of 2007, he and his graduates from HAMU (the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) commemorated 25 years of guitar with a concert at the academy where he founded guitar as a field of study in 1982. On November 4, 2007, Rak and Strejček were at it again. This time the pair teamed up in Florence, Italy at the Uffizi Gallery, where they performed a memorable rendition of the late Jan Amos Komensky’s Obecná porada o nápravě věcí lidských (Universal Consultation on the Reform of Human Affairs) in front a portrait of Komenský painted by Rembrandt. In December of that year, the two artists christened a newly-released selection of readings from Komenský’s famed work. Štěpán Rak, in collaboration with Alfred Strejček created 24 different concert programs.

One of Štěpán Rak’s most successful project is Rak & Rak, a concert project with his son, Jan-Matěj Rak.

Štěpán Rak is an enchanting artist who enthralls listeners with interpretations of a championship caliber and an elite composer all wrapped up into one musical, spiritual performing virtuoso.

for more info:

www.stepanrak.cz