Lucie Vítková is a composer, improviser, and performer (accordion, hichiriki, synthesizer, harmonica, voice, and dance) from the Czech Republic, living in New York. During their studies of composition at Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno (CZ), they have been visiting scholar at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (NL), California Institute of the Arts in Valencia (USA), Universität der Künste in Berlin (D), Columbia University in New York (USA) and at New York University. Their compositions focus on sonification (compositions based on abstract models derived from physical objects), while in their improvisation practice, Lucie works with the characteristics of discrete spaces through the interaction between sound and movement. In Lucie’s recent work, they are interested in the social-political aspects of music in relation to everyday life and in reusing trash to build sonic costumes and instruments.
They have been nominated for the 2017 Herb Alpert Awards in Arts in the category of Music, were commissioned by the Roulette Intermedium in 2017 and have become Roulette resident artist in 2018. They have put together two ensembles – the NYC Constellation Ensemble (focused on musical behavior) and the OPERA Ensemble (for singing instrumentalists).
In their dissertation, Compositional Techniques of Christian Wolff and Social Aspects in Music, which was published in 2021, Lucie analyzed the music of Christian Wolff, researching on compositional techniques which change relationships between players to reform established hierarchies in music.
Lucie’s teachers and collaborators include George Lewis, Suzanne Cusick, Ellie Hisama, Miya Masaoka, Petr Kotík, Hitomi Nakamura, Teerapat Parnmongkol, Jolana Havelková, Muyassar Kurdi, Haruhiko Okabe, Jaroslav Šťastný, Teodora Stepančić, James Ilgenfritz, Mae May, and Graham Haynes.
Website: www.vitkovalucie.com
During the Mentor/Protégé Residency in Tokyo (JP), they studied hichiriki with Hitomi Nakamura and have been a member of the Columbia University Gagaku Ensemble and CU Raaga ensemble.
As an accordion player, they have collaborated with New York based TAK Ensemble, Kamraton, S.E.M. ensemble, String Noise, Du.0 , Argento Ensemble, Ghost Ensemble, Talea Ensemble and Wet Ink.