Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová [SEP] place of birth
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová (19 November 1899 in Lviv – 25 September 1975 in Prague) was a Czech concert pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the Prague Academy of Arts. Her students included Ivan Moravec. Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová was the mother of pianist Pavel Štěpán.
Biography.
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová belongs to notable representatives of the Czech piano school. To the public she is known as appreciated and popular teacher who prepared many marvellous interpreters during her life. Her amazing concert career
concertino was at first intended to be a piano concerto, but later grew into a small chamber concerto. It was first entitled "Spring". This title Janáček wrote into the finished manuscript; he also added a date (25 April 1925) and a program note. The première of this 'small concerto' took place on 16 February 1926 in Brno at the third concert of the "Moravian Composer's Club". The piano part was performed by Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová, František Kudláček played first violin, Viktor Nopp