Biography

Robert Kolinsky, pianist, artistic director of the Martinů Festtage and filmmaker, is born in 1970 in Solothurn (Switzerland).

He studied piano at the academies of music in Basel and Prague with Laszlo Gyimesi, Peter Efler and Jan Panenka (Suk-Trio), obtained his diploma as a soloist and was awarded several first prizes. While engaging in further training with György Kurtag and Witold Lutoslawski, he took hammer keyboard study at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Jean Goverts and a master class in conducting with Otto-Werner Müller (Julliard School, Curtis Institute) in Canada.
Robert Kolinsky gave solo performances with orchestras, e.g. under conduction of Vladimir Ashkenazy and Gustavo Dudamel, further duo evenings with Josef Suk, Peter-Lukas Graf, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Veronika Hagen, Alison Balsom and Antonio Meneses. On chamber concerts he performed with drum player Peter Sadlo, oboe player Heinz Holliger and the Kremerata Baltica. He appears in Switzerland, abroad and at international festivals such as „Les Muséiques“ under Gidon Kremer and the „Menuhin Festival“ in Gstaad. The Swiss Radio SRF 2 recorded various piano concertos and chamber music works ranging from Bach to Henze. In cooperation with Swiss Television and EuroArts a chamber music film was recorded for television and DVD with Heinz Holliger, the Keller Quartet and Robert Kolinsky. He further recorded a CD for the Finnish label Ondine under the contuction of Vladimir Ashkenazy with piano conertos by Bohuslav Martinů.
Robert Kolinsky is the initiator and artistic director of the Martinů Festtage (www.martinu.ch) in Basel (Switzerland). The festival is under the auspices of Madeleine Albright, Mariss Jansons and Alain Berset.

In honour of the 125th anniversary of the composer Bohuslav Martinů Robert Kolinsky produced the audio-picture-book "Who is the Mightiest in the Word". (Publisher: Nord-Süd). It received a nomination for the Leopold award in Cologne.

As author and director he made a documentary on the actor, director and Academy Award winner Jiří Menzel. The premiere was 2016 at the filmfestival Solothurner Filmtage and got the audience award at the Fimfestival in Freistadt (Austria).