Josef Suk (violinist)

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Josef Suk (born August 8, 1929) is a Czech violinist, the grandson of Josef Suk, the composer and violinist, and great-grandson of Antonín Dvořák.

He studied at the Prague Conservatory with Jaroslav Kocián and the Prague Academy. He has had a distinguished solo career, but has especially given himself to chamber music, founding the Suk Trio (named after his grandfather) in 1951 with pianist Jan Panenka and cellist Josef Chuchro, and the Suk Chamber Orchestra in 1974. His career as a concert violinist started in 1954, and he has given concerts all over the world and the prestigious music festivals. He reached his greatest success in the USA and Canada.

As a student, he already played with the Prague String Quartet.

In 1973 he started perform also on viola and became a distinguished violist, having recorded the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra K. 364 as violist with Iona Brown and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

He has won the Grand Prix du Disque six times, in 1960 for recordings of Leoš Janáček and Claude Debussy violin sonatas, and in 1968 for the Alban Berg violin concerto.