Tomáš Kačo From a derelict, out-of-tune upright in Nový Jičín to a grand piano in a fully-booked Carnegie Hall; from self-taught musician to one of the best jazz students at the prestigious Berklee College in Boston — the history of pianist, composer, singer, and arranger Tomáš Kačo is that a dream came true. Kačo solo recitals are improvised musical landscapes that boast a stunning mix of classical music, jazz and traditional Romani music.
Tomáš Kačo, the fourth of twelve siblings, began playing the piano at the age of five, but his only tuition was his intuition, and he had to learn the principles of play by himself. He was first introduced to sheet music, scales, and technique when he visited a local conservatory at the age of twelve. Subsequently, he studied at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava under the renowned Professor Pavel Motloch and at the Academy of Music in Prague under Professor Ivo Kahánek. And in 2017 he started a study at the Berklee College in Boston, one of the best schools of contemporary music in the world. Thanks to the open environment at Berklee he began to see his Romani descent as a distinctive asset, and this was reflected in the program of his recital at Carnegie Hall in 2018 entitled Gypsy Soul, a mix of his own compositions and arrangements of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Frédéric Chopin. Tomáš Kačo, who has performed in various countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Israel, USA), has collaborated for many years with singer Ida Kelarová and accompanied her in the album Romská balada released in 2010. Moreover, he writes arrangements for several Czech symphony orchestras.
For his debut CD entitled My Home that came out in 2018, Tomáš Kačo gathered around him multiple Grammy winner John Patitucci, the singer Ondřej Gregor Brzobohatý, the Kühn’s Children’s Choir, and his younger sister Veronika. The recording was made possible by the support of the Bakala Foundation, which also supported Kačo’s studies at Berklee College. The music from the album was premiered during the launch of Influencers of Resonance, a new concert series sponsored by C. Bechstein, the leading European grand piano manufacturer.
Photos: © Zdena Hanakova
