Ales Kasprik, cello
The 'old man 'of the Quartet, it was Ales's idea to form a string quartet. Born in 1962 in Ostrava, Moravia, in the eastern part of Czechoslovakia, he was taken as a 9 year old by his mother to watch a cello class and fell in love with the sound and shape of the cello. During his six- year stay at the Ostrava Conseravatoire, he won the cello prize and met up with Jiri Zigmund. At the age of 16, he showed great promise as a tennis player and had to choose between the two careers. He still continues to enjoy the game to this day.
In 1983, he arrived in Prague's Academy of Performing Arts to study with Milos Sadlo, the greatest Czech cellist of the period. The idea to form the Wihan Quartet took root in 1985 and Ales was joined by Leos Cepicky and Jan Schulmeister. For a short while, the viola part was played by another student, who quickly decided there was less stress playing in orchestras. The members of the world famous Smetana Quartet became their teachers and handed down to them the interpretations and ideas of the composers themselves, either directly as in the case of Janacek or through a direct link to Dvorak and Smetana via the Bohemian Quartet.
Ales has always collected model cars, a love now passed on to his son Theodore, born in 1997. He enjoys cooking, reading, especially about stringed instruments and is interested in Art and loves the paintings of Turner as well as Czech painting up to 1945.
He also loves animals and, one might say, is a specialist in wine, women and song.
He is a great admirer of Rostropovich, Mischa Maisky and Steven Isserlis. Ales Kasprik’s cello was made in 1887 by Karel Boromejsky Dvorak (no relation).
Wihan Quartet
general manager: Maureen Phillips
Upbeat Classical Management, PO Box 479, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2ZH, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1895 259 441 • wihan@upbeatclassical.co.uk • www.upbeatclassical.co.uk
