In all the works, the roots are unmistakably in his motherland and express in a different way the “moods of his Bohemian heart”. It is no coincidence that the special nature and sensitivity of his many compositions has led to him winning composition competitions in Germany. This “Bohemian heart” has been beating for more than 85 years for Josef Jiskra, the composer, conductor, arranger and trombonist from Bohemia, who celebrated his 85th birthday on 4 August.
Josef Jiskra studied music at the Prague Conservatory from 1953 to 1958, majoring in trombone. After two years of military service he became first trombonist in the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. He also worked as a music lecturer and adjudicator; in 1965 he founded the Original Karlovarka brass band, with which he made numerous radio and television recordings. During this time he became aware of his special love for folk music and even then he won several prizes at folk music composition competitions in the Czech Republic.
In the autumn of 1979 Josef Jiskra moved to Germany and was music director of the town of Crailsheim from January 1980 to December 1999, which also included a teaching position at the youth music school. Through his consistent and purposeful work with the Crailsheim town band and also with the youth band Crailsheim, the latter has repeatedly won high awards at music competitions and youth criticism games.
Josef Jiskra has already written over 100 compositions and almost 200 arrangements in the past years. He is a passionate composer and so, in addition to numerous compositions of the Bohemian kind, more and more concertante-symphonic works for wind orchestra have been written in recent years. The actual trigger for the first large symphonic work was given by the Landesmusikverband Baden-Württemberg when he ordered a commissioned composition from Josef Jiskra in 1990.
Although Josef Jiskra has been retired since January 2000, he does not like to find peace of mind, as he continues his work as a district conductor in the Hohenlohe district association and is also active as a trombonist in the Landesblasorchester Baden-Württemberg. In addition, numerous commissioned compositions and workshops of Bohemian brass music do not cause any “boredom”.
We congratulate you on your 85th birthday and wish you continued creativity and health.
Catalogue of works wind orchestra
Catalogue of works Ensemble Music
