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Musician Jiří Stivín was born in Prague on 23 November 1942 into a family of artists. His mother Eva Svobodová was a popular actress, his grandfather Milan Svoboda a professor at the conservatory. He spent a part of his childhood in Rychnov near Jablonec nad Nisou where his father was a factory director. He completed an 11-year school in Prague and entered FAMU in 1960, majoring in cinematography. While still a student, he focused on music music, especially jazz. He played the saxophone and recorder, founded the band Jazz Q, and played with Karel Velebný‘s jazz quintet SHQ. His sister left the country in 1964, making his travels difficult temporarily. Despite that, he went abroad with various ensembles, including to „capitalist“ foreign countries, from the mid-1960s on. During his military service in 1965-1967, he worked with SHQ as a musician in the Army Art Ensemble. He co-founded the avant-garde Quax Ensemble, and in 1967-1969 he was also a member of the Jára Cimrman Theatre company. He stayed in England in 1969, studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. When he returned to Prague to legalise his further stay in the UK, the Czechoslovak authorities did not allow him to leave again. He married in 1970 and joined the National Theatre‘s drama troupe orchestra. He still focused primarily on jazz, founding the ensemble Stivín & Co. Jazz System and the jazz duo System Tandem with Rudolf Dašek. He also performed early music, working with ensembles such as Collegium Quodlibet and Ars rediviva. During the normalisation period, he performed both home and abroad, recorded, composed and taught at the conservatory, promoting recorder playing. He was not severely persecuted by the Communist regime, but had to give up some opportunities for political reasons, such as attending a festival at the Carnegie Hall in New York. He did not go to America until after the Velvet Revolution, leaving in November 1989. After the fall of communism, he was invited by President Václav Havel to Prague Castle to play at various social events. He annually organises a Tribute to St. Cecilia concert, composes music for film and theatre, plays for children, and improvises. In 1999 he founded the Centre for Improvisation in Art in Všenory where he runs improv weekends. He lives in Všenory.
