Robert Bily

Biography

Competition program

1. round

Frédéric Chopin - Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31

2. round

Claude Debussy - From Pour le Piano: I. Prélude

Henri Dutilleux - Piano Sonata: III. Choral et Variations

3. round

Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83

Biography

"I heard him in the Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany last year where he was awarded the First Prize. He always impressed me as a young musician of quite unusual temperament and genuine originality."
Professor Daejin Kim, Korean National University of Arts.

"Robert exhibits a very strong musical personality, big deep inner world with lots of feeling and much fantasy. He has a beautiful expressive musicality and always plays with both charm and intensity. His technique is extremely polished and refined for his age."
Professor Arie Vardi, Director of the Artur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv.

Robert is a winner of numerous national and international competitions. He won the 1st prize at the Ettlingen International Piano Competition, Johann Nepomuk Hummel International Piano Competition and the International Music Festival in Paris respectively, as well as the 2nd prize at the International Jinji Suzhou Lake Piano Competition.
Furthermore he won the 1st prize at the Troisdorf International Piano Competition,  the International Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition, the "Virtuosi" International Piano Competition in his city of birth Ústí nad labem, the "Rising Star" Music Competition in Berlin, the "Piano Talents" International Piano Competition in Milan, as well as the 1st Prize and Grand Prix as the overall winner across all the competitions categories in both the International Music Competition “Young Talents & Orchestra” in Milan and at the Tadini International Music Competition in Lovere.

After winning the first prize at the national "Young Musicians" Music Competition in Prague in 2016, he was invited to the International Music Competition "Eurovision Young Musicians" in Cologne where he received the 2nd prize, being the best rated pianist of the competition and the first and only Czech prize winner of the competitions history to date. The competition was followed by millions of people on television and over the internet. Many of its past prize winners went on to have great careers like Daniil Trifonov (3rd prize in 2010) or Julia Fischer (1st prize in 1988) among others.

In addition, Robert has won a total of 22 first prizes both as a soloist and in various chamber music groups at the national "Jugend Musiziert" Music Competition in Germany from 2003-2014. He was also awarded with a total of 9 prizes at the International "Müncher Klavierpodium" Piano Competition 2013 in Munich. 

Born in 1997 in Ústi nad Labem, Czech Republic, Robert Bily began to study piano at the age of 6. From 2003 to 2007 he had piano lessons with Margarita Gebhardt in Halle (Saale), Germany. From 2007 to 2014 he was studying with Dirk Fischbeck at the August Hermann Francke Latina Grammar School in Halle. He also had regular piano lessons with Gerald Fauth at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ in Leipzig from 2012 to 2014 where he proceeded his training as a student of Jacques Ammon. Currently, Robert is continuing his education with Pavel Gililov at the Mozarteum Salzburg.

He also attended piano masterclasses with renowned pianists and professors such as Emanuel Ax, Barry Douglas, Arie Vardi, Daejin Kim, Robert Levin, Michel Beroff, Vincenzo Balzani and Claudio Martinez Mehner.

Robert regularly participates as a soloist at many prestigious music festivals including Salzburg Festival, Händel Festspiele and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. He has already performed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Italy, England, Spain, Norway and the Arabic Emirates, playing in prestigious halls such as the Georg Friedrich Händel-Halle in Halle, "Die Glocke" in Bremen, the Laieszhalle in Hamburg, Teatro dal Verme in Milan and the MusicHall Dubai.

The highlights of his 2022/2023 season include performances with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra. He is also set to give numerous recitals across Germany.