{"id":22,"date":"2016-04-12T15:45:55","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T15:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ondrakozak.com\/domains\/ondrakozak.com\/wp\/?page_id=22"},"modified":"2026-07-11T23:46:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T21:46:01","slug":"bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ondrakozak.com\/en\/ondra-kozak\/","title":{"rendered":"Ondra Koz\u00e1k"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ondra Koz\u00e1k<\/h1>\n

I’m a musician. I explore, I create and I share.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Veronika Dvo\u0159\u00e1kov\u00e1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\"ondra-45\"<\/a>
photo: Veronika Dvo\u0159\u00e1kov\u00e1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

M<\/span>y first instrument was the violin,<\/strong> which I’d played before I learned to write. During my childhood, I was captivated by various kinds of acoustic music and I started playing other instruments as well, mainly guitar, mandolin, and bass<\/strong>, later also dobro<\/strong> (resonator guitar). I gained my first experiences as a player, singer, and songwriter with the bands K\u0159eni<\/a> and\u00a0Petr Brandejs Band.<\/a>\u00a0Since 2010 I’ve been playing with several bands\u00a0(G-runs ‘n Roses<\/a>, East-West<\/a>, Fragment<\/a>, Jazzyk<\/span><\/a>, <\/span><\/span>Ondra Koz\u00e1k & Ralph Schut<\/span><\/a>, Llu\u00eds G\u00f3mez Bluegrass Quartet<\/span><\/a>, Loes Bluegrass Trio<\/a><\/span><\/span>), performing solo<\/a> or in various occasional line-ups. Currently, I make music mainly with my band New Aliquot<\/a>, and in a duo with Radim Zenkl<\/a> (more about my music projects here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I released my debut solo album\u00a0Ataman<\/a><\/strong> in 2014 and a solo guitar album Overtones \u2013 12 Songs \u2022 12 Vintage Guitars<\/a> in 2019. Besides that, I’ve been part of more than 30 studio recordings<\/a> over the years. I feel grateful for being awarded The\u00a0Guitar Player Of The Year 5-times<\/strong>\u00a0according to the Czech Bluegrass Music Association<\/a>, for winning the European BG\u00a0band\u00a0contest <\/strong>at\u00a0the\u00a0La Roche Bluegrass Festival\u00a04-times<\/strong> (K\u0159eni 2009, Blackjack 2011, East-West 2013, G-runs ‘n Roses 2016) and #1 European Bluegrass Band at <\/span>European World Of Bluegrass<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0(Blackjack 2009)<\/span>. I also enjoy online interest \u2013 my videos (music<\/a> and tutorials<\/a>) have over 1.5 million views on YouTube<\/strong>. In 2024 my composition Mosquito Gathering<\/a> won first prize in the Mike Auldridge Instrumental Composition Contest<\/strong>. However, the biggest reward for me is the chance to collaborate with so many talented musicians and perform alongside many eminent personalities of the music scene such as Mike Marshall, Bill Evans, Casey Driessen, John Reischman, Dan Crary, Tony Furtado, Beppe Gambetta, Dale Ann Bradley, Steve Gulley, Cia Cherryholmes, Mike Compton, Emory Lester, Radim Zenkl, Jesse Brock, Llu\u00eds G\u00f3mez, etc.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Participants<\/a>
Participants of the \u201cBluegrass Vegas\u201d workshop, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

S<\/span>ince 2004, I’ve been regularly teaching guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and vocals at several bluegrass camps and workshops in the USA and Europe <\/strong>\u2013 Steve Kaufman Acoustic Kamp<\/a> (USA), Fiddle Hell<\/a> (USA), Ossipee Valley String Camp<\/a> (USA), Adiaha’s Bluegrass Camp<\/span><\/a> (<\/span><\/span>Germany), <\/span>Ris\u00f8r Bluegrass Festival<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and <\/span>Strenger i Gress Bluegrassfestival<\/a><\/span><\/span> (Norway), <\/span>Barcelona Bluegrass Camp<\/a><\/span><\/span> (Spain), Grenna Bluegrass Academy<\/a> (Sweden), Acoustic Guitar Camp<\/a> (Italy), La Roche Bluegrass Camp<\/a> (France), ATAmusic camps<\/a> (Czechia, Slovakia), Mal\u00e9 Svato\u0148ovice<\/a> (Czechia), Nov\u00fd Ji\u010d\u00edn<\/a> (Czechia), Nyiregyh\u00e1za (Hungary), etc. In 2014, I launched the ATAmusic online workshop<\/strong><\/a>, under the heading of which I also organize several annual workshops of various focuses<\/a> (all bluegrass instruments, vocals, band coaching). I’m an author and co-author of 4 instructional DVDs \u2013 2 volumes of instructional DVDs for acoustic guitar (with Ralph Schut<\/a> – 2008, 2016) and instructions for solo guitar<\/a> (2011) and fiddle<\/a> (2013). I also take part in various festival workshops \u2013 La Roche BG Festival (France), EWOB (Netherlands), Summergrass BG Festival (San Diego, CA, USA), OIBF (Guthrie, OK, USA), etc. Since 2007, I’ve been organizing instrument workshops at the oldest European bluegrass festival Banjo Jamboree<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span>in \u010c\u00e1slav (Czech Republic) and since 2018, I’ve been making the ATAmusic podcast<\/a> \u2013 an audio blog for musicians (in Czech).<\/p>\n

\"knobs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

B<\/span>esides playing and teaching music,\u00a0I also work in my studio<\/strong><\/a> as an engineer and producer, making recordings of my projects or doing studio work for other musicians, bands, choirs, etc. Whenever my schedule allows I devote myself to my great hobby \u2013 photography<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

I<\/span>f\u00a0you feel\u00a0interested in my activities, check out my\u00a0blog<\/a>, and follow me on Facebook<\/a> or other social media (links in the footer of this page) to stay updated with my upcoming projects. All my music teaching activities are covered on\u00a0this page<\/a> and at the\u00a0ATAmusic<\/a> website\u00a0\u2013\u00a0you can sign up for news there. If you are interested in working with me,\u00a0drop me a line<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ondra<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: Veronika Dvo\u0159\u00e1kov\u00e1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2913 short bio for download<\/a>
\n\u2913 structured CV (including links to media reviews, articles and videos) for download<\/a>
\n\u2913 photos for download<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Ondra Koz\u00e1k I’m a musician. I explore, I create and I share.   My first instrument was the violin, which I’d played before I learned to write. 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