Roman Válek

Conductor Roman Válek is a pioneer of the historical performance movement in Eastern Europe. He is the chief conductor of the Czech Ensemble Baroque, a group he founded. Válek was active for nearly 20 years as a chorus master with various top Czech choirs. He made his recording debut in 1995, leading a performance of Jan Dismas Zelenka's Requiem and Miserere. Válek is best known as the director of the Czech Ensemble Baroque, which he founded in 1998 and continues to conduct. That group, one of the first of its kind in Eastern Europe, focused on lesser-known Czech composers of the Baroque and Classical eras, including František Tůma and Franz Xaver Richter. Válek and Czech Ensemble Baroque made several recordings of music by Tůma and Richter. In 2023, he backed countertenor Andreas Scholl on a collection of Tůma's music.