Štěpán Rak
composer (born 1945)
A guitarist, teacher, and composer, graduated from a secondary school specialised in visual arts, the Prague State Conservatory, and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
As a teacher he strives to cultivate guitar technique and methodology, and he is a sought-after jury-member of interpretation competitions both home and abroad. He became the first ever professor of guitar at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. His accomplished skills of a guitar virtuoso can still be heard in concerts both in the Czech Republic and on his tours abroad.
His compositional output consists mainly of solo pieces, but it includes also music for chamber ensembles and guitar as well as orchestral compositions. As an avid promoter of the instrument both home and abroad he cooperates with such artists as the actor Alfred Strejček, with whom he has paid tribute to J. A. Comenius in their VIVAT COMENIUS project.
His many awards include a rarity: a stone guitar carved by the sculptor Jan Řeřicha. He also makes use of the resonance qualities of the instrument in his KYTAROTERAPIE (GUITARTHERAPY) project.
Titles for sale:
Song for a Fairy (Compositions for Little Guitarists)
Temptation of the Renaissance