Čeština
English
composer
musician
therapist
Tomáš Pálka studied composition at the Brno Conservatory in the class of Pavel Zemek-Novák and at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Marek Kopelent´s class. He did his postgraduate studies in the class of Milan Slavický.
In 2004, he stayed in Paris thanks to the invitation from the organization SACEM and of the order for the Calliopée chamber ensemble.
He is a co-founder and member of the Konvergence Association of Composers and Ensemble (2002). They perform premieres and unknown compositions by young artists from around the world.
He is also engaged in musical theatre, multimedia projects or projects for radio broadcasting, and he looks for connections between music and art.
Between the years 1997 and 2002 he worked as a pianist in the orchestra of the National Theatre in Brno. Between the years 1998 and 2001 he performed as a bass-baritone in the mixed chamber choir Musica Da Camera in Brno with Franz Martin as a conductor. Between the years 1998 and 2008 he worked as a violinist in the orchestra Musica Figuralis (Brno, Přerov) under the artistic direction of Marek Čermák, where he devoted himself to the interpretation of Baroque and early Classical music. Between the years 2000 and 2003 he cooperated with the Prague Philharmonic Choir. In the years 2003 – 2012 he worked as a teacher of music theory and composition at the Music School Biskupská in Prague, at the Brno Conservatory and at the English College Prague. He cooperated as a freelance editor with the music publishers Baerenreiter and Billaudot.
In 2012 he stopped teaching and has worked as a composer, musician and therapist in spa area Bad Reichenhall.
In his compositions he focuses on expressing his relationship to spiritual values.
His musical ideals include in the first place composers such as Anton von Webern, Morton Feldman, Giacinto Scelsi, György Ligeti, Pavel Zemek-Novak, Olivier Messiaen, Witold Lutosławski, Arvo Pärt, or György Kurtág.
In terms of formal structure he inclines to monolithic forms, development of musical contrast within extended musical areas and the overall coherence of music blocks.
The most significant principle is the integration of space into the overall form of the composition. He often uses spiritually tuned poetic lyrics as a basis.
He believes that without silence and humility it is not possible to get to know the true nature of existence, as it was written by St. Augustin: “You, who wanted to understand yourself, to finally find your own face, to see your essence, to know your soul, the mystery of your identity – if you were looking for it really humbly and keenly, you’ve found much more: the face of God.”