The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of MATOUS MICHAL and SIMON MICHAL as members of its second violin section. Brothers native to the Czech Republic, they began their roles with the CSO on February 1.
Matous Michal was concertmaster of the orchestra at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West in 2013 and at the Verbier Festival Orchestra in 2014, joining the first violin section of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago the following summer. He holds a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a bachelor’s from the Juilliard School. Born in Prague, where he completed undergraduate studies at the Prague Conservatory in 2010, Matous Michal was a first-prize winner in the Kocian International Violin Competition and in the Concertino Praga International Radio Competition for Young Musicians.
Simon Michal was concertmaster of the Juilliard Symphony and the Juilliard Opera from 2011 to 2015, and was subsequently appointed concertmaster of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. He has also served as concertmaster of the orchestra at Music Academy of the West, where he was selected as a Global Academy Fellow of the New York Philharmonic through its partnership with the Music Academy. Born in Nachod, Czech Republic, Simon Michal trained in violin performance at Prague Conservatory, received a bachelor’s degree at the Juilliard School, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
Posted February 9, 2016
