Talent Stage

Music has been a driving force in his life from the very moment that Jooan Kim first discovered the trumpet at the age of ten.

After studying at the Soongui Primary School and at the Centre for Gifted Pupils at the Teaching Faculty of the Korean National University, he entered the Yewon School. He became the first ever and the youngest player of a brass instrument to be accepted to the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts. He has further perfected his unique artistic expression under the tutelage of Professor Dmitri Lokalenkov and internationally renowned maestros such as Sergei Nakarjakov. After a successful recital as part of the Kumho Young Artist Recital in March 2026, he has continued to bring joy to audiences around the world via his polished trumpet.

source: Concertino Praga

photo © Haksoo Kim

Fifteen-year-old Michaela Odvárková harks from Bradlecká Lhota. She is in her sixth year of harp playing and is also studying at the Prague Conservatory under Professor Lydie Härtelová.

Fifteen-year-old Michaela Odvárková harks from Bradlecká Lhota. She is in her sixth year of harp playing and is also studying at the Prague Conservatory under Professor Lydie Härtelová. She has participated in a number of competitions, such as the Professor Karel Patras Competition or the International Harp Competition in Szeged, Hungary. She says that harp playing pleases and fulfils her greatly and that she is able to express her feelings via the instrument. She enjoys expanding and developing her harp playing skills, because she considers music to be a wonderful art form that can soothe the soul and leave beautiful feelings in a person.

source: Concertino Praga

photo © Martina Vlasáková

Jaroslav Skalka, born in 2010, is a member of the third generation of a musical family.

Since childhood, he has dedicated himself to playing the piano and the violoncello under the leadership of his parents. He is a pupil at the Fryderyk Chopin Arts Primary School in Mariánské Lázně and a MenArt Academy scholarship holder in Ivo Kahánek’s class. His piano successes have included victory in the Broumov Key and Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte competitions and the laureate’s title at the Mladý klavír event held by the Prague Conservatory. In 2025, he was successful at the Anton Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Düsseldorf, where he received a prize for his performance of a piece by Francis Poulenc. He has performed as a soloist with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra (Mozart’s A Major Concerto) and with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto). He has also performed at the Dvořák Prague festival. He has likewise been successful as a violoncellist (victory in the Jan Vychytil competition or in the national Arts Primary School round). He is a student at the grammar school in Mariánské Lázně. He is interested in sport and photography in his free time.

source: Concertino Praga

photo © Petr Skalka

Fourteen-year-old cellist Daniel Wang is a promising talent, whom critics have labelled an artist with a level of maturity beyond his years.

Daniel has been successful at the Gustav Mahler Violincello Competition where he received the chairman’s prize and the prize for a performance of a piece by Joseph Haydn. His other awards include the first prize from the American Virtuoso International Music Competition, the Paris International Music Competition and the Malopolska International Music Competition. The highlights of his 2025–2026 season have included a performance with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Parnassus and the Cambrian Symphony. Daniel performed at the International Music Festival in Beijing as the youngest artist under Project Spring Bird, an initiative in support of exceptional young talent led by the maestro Long Yu. He has also appeared on the Violin Channel and in the From the Top program on National Public Radio. He is currently studying under Richard Aaron at the Pre-College Academy at the Conservatory in San Francisco.

source: Concertino Praga

photo © Fuxing Zhang