Jan Hus Bursík

About

Jan Hus Bursík comes from Neveklov in Central Bohemia and played the violin from childhood. Working with wood came naturally to him – his father and brother were woodcarvers. He trained as a violin maker in Luby u Chebu and completed his studies with an internship with masters Vladimír and Tomáš Pilař in Hradec Králové. He also knows the violin from the player’s side: he studied the violin at the Prague State Conservatory and for several years played in the Brno Radio Folk Instruments Orchestra.

He has been a member of the Circle of Czech Master Violinmakers since 1986. In 1988 he founded his own workshop in Brno, where his wife Bronislava has always worked with him and where today his sons Jan and Bronislav work too. At the 1989 Oskar Nedbal international competition he won 2nd prize and the laureate title for a viola, together with an honourable mention for its tone; at the Czechoslovak violin making competition that year he won 3rd prize with the laureate title and honourable mentions for workmanship and tone. He also reached the final in Mittenwald.

His instruments are played by Iva Bittová, Jiří Pavlica (Hradišťan), Brno Philharmonic concertmaster Pavel Wallinger, JAMU professor Bohumil Smejkal and soloist Milan Paľa, for whom the workshop built the five-string violin “Milanolo” in 2013.