Dada Klementová

I was born in Brno. Thanks to the providence of my parents I started with piano at the musical school as early as at the age of 6. I can still recall the picture how I got an attack of rage at the door to the piano class and how my mother, by one hand, and my aunt, by the other hand, drag along my crying and kicking self over the threshold of the class room. I have no idea what sort of fit that can have been, I just absolutely refused going in. Today I am happy that I was overcome. I started to learn playing the special music instrument that sometimes looked like showing its bare teeth.

Training was often far from enjoyable, but moments came when the piano started obeying and producing the sort of sounds that I wished myself. Actually, I have always enjoyed creating melodies and trying my own ideas. I learned only much later, perhaps as late as at the Conservatory, that such undertaking is called improvisation.

 

When looking back I feel that my mother's father František Střelec must have influenced me greatly. We called him stařeček (good old man). A person whose property (a hotel in Račice near Vyškov) was confiscated in 1948, hard-working as a worker in the local quarry. Always joking, always willing to communicate with us, the children, and in particular a typical autodidact musician. Allegedly he had only two hours of education in a musical school. He played the organ in the church, he played with the local band at village celebrations all over the environment of Račice, at funerals, weddings, as well as accompanying the theatricals, and namely various instruments: piano, accordion, bass bugle, drum – whatever was needed. He seems to have been able to play anything he took in his hand. Besides that he copied in his beautiful and careful handwriting the parts for the other musicians. With grandmother he had two daughters: my mother and aunt Vlasta who studied the piano at the Brno Conservatory and "infected me" at the right moment with songs of Jaroslav Ježek.

I finished my musical education by school leaving exams at the Brno Conservatory in the piano class of Prof. Ivana Stanovská. Immediately I got an opportunity as ballet répétiteur of the Janáèek Theatre in Brno. That was a demanding work for a pianist, psychically and physically. Certainly this was not something that I would wish to focus my energies upon for a long time, but during the four years at the theatre I was able to understand a lot of things that I would have hardly acquired at any school.

I was looking around for other options. Having won a competition I returned to the Conservatory, but among the teachers. I started as répétiteur of the ballet, but I was attracted by the musical and dramatic department where I was finally given the possibility to play music according to my liking. Jaroslav Ježek, Suchý and Šlitr, chansons, own compositions and work with future actors who were ready to improvise – that was finally something where I was willing to invest by far more of my time than required by official rules.

In 1991 I entered the Theatre Faculty of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (department of musical theatre) where I have been active down to the present day, with main focus upon ensemble singing. I devote a lot of my energy to the work with the students, but it is worth while. I try to acquaint them with various musical styles and improvisation, I compose for them also original music and polyphonic arrangements of interesting compositions.

In addition to his technological employment my husband Jirka has an important hobby: music. Not only as a passive listener; for many years he has been keen to record non-commercial projects. Together with his friend František Nečas they succeeded to build up a recording studio Pivox that seems to have quite a good name in the musical world. Thanks to him I am lucky to implement practically all my ideas and projects. Not to forget, we have a daughter and two sons.

Some time in 1978 we founded a family ensemble under the name CKK Band (piano, my husband - percussion, sister Eva – voice and her husband - bass). Sometimes we engage also our children. The first repertory were all the songs by Suchý and Šlitr (we have not given up playing them),followed by Christmas carols from our region (a CD was published) and, in co-operation with Nostalgia Quartet, later with Jára Cimrman Quartet (always under the guidance of Jan Beránek) certain compositions ranging in a special category of "Musical Jokes".

In 1998 I encountered a superb event. After having tried to improvise with Quakvartet, I joined in and found a lasting source of joy, and namely in the communication with people who are nice and close to me not only by their musical thought, but also in the type of music created together that is further enhanced by souls feeling attracted by our music.

Authorship:

Songs, chamber compositions, music for short films (ecology)

Music for the stage:

• W. Shakespeare: Hamlet — 2000, school leaving production of musical theatre students of JAMU
• Patrick Marber: Closer — 2000, recorded at the Pivox recording studio with the Quakvartet band, still produced by National Theatre Brno on the Small Stage
• Pavlina Hoggard: Noble passions – Henry the VIII and his 6 wives — (2003, student leaving production, 2004-5 a production in the Theatre Studio Marta)

CD:

• Peace, health, blessings – adaptation of carols from the Brno region, and also Horácko and Slovácko – CKK Band (1994, studio Pivox)
• Guests on Earth – adaptations of songs by Jiří Bulis and Jan Beránek, the actors of HADivadlo sing (1998, studio Pivox)
• Sonnets — Hamlet — Confession  – Sonnets by W. Shakespeare put to music, students of JAMU singing (2000, studio Pivox)
• Quakvartet – Draughts  – 2001, studio Pivox