Jiri Hlinka

Classical pianist born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1944. He moved to Norway in 1972 and became a Norwegian citizen in 1982. In 1970 he took up the Professorship at the Conservatoire in Prague, and in 1972 moved to Bergen where he became the leading professor at the Bergen Musikkonservatorium (renamed Griegakademiet in 1995). He establishment the Professor Jiri Hlinka Piano Academy in 2008, and has been permanently based at the Reksten Collections in Bergen. In 2004 he was awarded the Kings Order of Merit in gold, in recognition of his many valuable years of service to the Norwegian music community.In June 2007, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg handed the GRATIAS AGIT 2007 award (the “Jan Masaryk Award”) over to professor Jiri Hlinka. This award is given to outstanding personalities and organisations that have contributed in a significant way to the presentation of the Czech Republic abroad.