Kristýna Kůstková

I have sang since I was a child and my love for opera grew deeper when I entered Children's Opera Prague. Since I was 7 years old, I performed with them on the stages of the Czech National Theatre and took part in several tours and recording of the educational series „Opera nás baví“ for Czech Television. After high school I enrolled at the Conservatory of Pardubice, despite the professors' discouragement from the world of art. During that time I was fortunate to have great professors and many opportunities to perform. I was honored to be able to perform with artists such as Adam Plachetka, Václav Hudeček or Štefan Margita, I have sung at several music festivals and as a 21 year old I made debut in Moravian Theatre Olomouc. I am also a laureate of many vocal competitions – I won for example Prize for Absolute winner of „ Contest of Conservatories“, 1 st prize in the „Antonín Dvořák Competition“ in the Promising Opera Singer category, 2nd Prize and 4 other special Prizes in Junior category and also the title „Young Talent of Pardubice region “. I started a master programme at Mannes School of Music in August 2019. I believe that the very cultural and competitive environment of New York is the right place for me to draw inspiration from and to elevate myself not only as an artist but also as a person. I have found this inspiring environment to be lacking in the Czech Republic and as I believe when we are young, we have an unrepeatable possibility to work on ourselves, I decided to send applications to three music universities in New York and I was accepted to two of them. I am looking forward to connecting with talented artists from all over the world and to proudly represent our Czech culture here.