Ondřej Soukup (born 2 May 1951) is a Czech musician and composer. He has written soundtracks for over twenty feature films, including

Jan Svěrák Jan Svěrák (; born 6 February 1965) is a Czechs, Czech film director and screenwriter. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák, with whom he collaborated on his most successful films. He is among the most recognized Czech filmm ...

's '' Kolya'', an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winner for best

foreign film World cinema is a term in film theory in the United States that refers to films made outside of the Cinema of the United States, American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial Ame ...

in 1997, and ''

Dark Blue World ''Dark Blue World'' () is a 2001 war drama film by Czech director Jan Svěrák, the Academy Award-winning director of '' Kolya''. The film is about Czech pilots who fought for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The scr ...

'', for which Soukup received his second

Czech Lion The Czech Lion Awards () are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historica ...

award for best soundtrack, in 2001. He was also a jury member for the talent show ''

Česko hledá SuperStar Česko hledá SuperStar () was the Czech Republic, Czech version of the Idol series which ran from 2004 to 2006. The show was broadcast on Czech Nova (Czech TV), TV Nova for three seasons. The first series was exceedingly popular, with the final ...

''.

Career

Soukup graduated from the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

in 1975, then played bass in various jazz and pop bands, including

Pražský výběr Pražský výběr is a Czech rock band formed in 1976 in Prague by keyboardist and singer Michael Kocáb. The band initially played jazz fusion in the 1970s, which was popular at the time. At the beginning of the 1980s, they changed their style ...

and Pavel Fořt's group Labyrint. In the early 1980s, Soukup began playing with

Karel Gott Karel Gott (14 July 1939 – 1 October 2019) was a Czech singer, considered the most successful male singer in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. He was voted the country's best male singer in the annual ''Český slavík'' (''Czech Nighti ...

and also composed and arranged music of his own. He later became a full-time composer and also produced records for other artists. In 1983, Soukup wrote music for his first feature film, ''Druhý tah pěšcem''. Since then, he has scored twenty more productions, including the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning '' Kolya'', directed by

, in 1996. In 1998, he won a

award for best composition in

Juraj Jakubisko Juraj Jakubisko (30 April 1938 – 24 February 2023) was a Slovak film director. He directed fifteen feature films, between 1967 and 2008. He often took on the dual role of cinematographer in his films, as well as writing or co-writing the scrip ...

's ''

An Ambiguous Report About the End of the World ''An Ambiguous Report About the End of the World'' () is a 1997 Czech film directed by Juraj Jakubisko. It is a symbolic story of ill-fated love set in central Europe. Synopsis A magical and realistic vision of an unbalanced world takes place in ...

''. Three years later, he won another Czech Lion for music in Jan Svěrák's film ''

''. Soukup has also written pop music for various artists, often together with his ex-wife, lyricist Gabriela Osvaldová. The duo's first collaboration was the 1989 song "Miss Moscow", written for

Jiří Korn Jiří Korn (born 17 May 1949) is a Czech singer-songwriter and actor from Prague who has been active since 1967. Internationally, his single ''Miss Moskva'' received radio play in most European countries, including France, Germany, Croatia, Hun ...

. They also worked with singer

Lucie Bílá Lucie Bílá (born Hana Zaňáková on 7 April 1966) is a Czech pop singer. According to her label, EMI Czech Republic, the singer has sold over one million albums. She won the Czech musical award, Český slavík, 13 times, more than any other ...

on her second studio album, 1992's ''Missariel'', which went on to win five

Anděl Awards The Anděl Awards () is a Czech music award ceremony organized by the Czech Academy of Popular Music. History It is a successor to the Annual Czechoslovak Music Award (Czech: ''Výroční československé hudební ceny'') established in 1991 ...

. In 2000, Soukup wrote his first musical, ''Johanka z Arku'', to which Gabriela Osvaldová penned the lyrics. In 2015, he composed music for the Russian ice show ''Masha and the Bear'', based on the cartoon of the same name. Additionally, he has served as a member of the jury on the reality talent shows ''

'' and ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

''.

Personal life

Soukup has one son with Gabriela Osvaldová, composer František Soukup. In 2017, he married Slovak singer Lucia Šoralová, with whom he has a son and a daughter.

Partial list of scores

* ''Druhý tah pěšcem'' (1983) * ''

Bony a klid ''Bony a klid'' is a Czech drama film directed by . It was released in 1988. A sequel, was released in 2014. Plot The film is set in Prague. Martin, a young man from Mladá Boleslav, becomes a victim of a fraud committed by Richard, a currency d ...

'' (1988) * '' Accumulator 1'' (1994) * '' Kolya'' (1996) * ''

'' (1998) * ''Johanka z Arku'' (2000 – musical) * ''

'' (2001) * ''

Empties ''Empties'' () is a 2007 film directed by Jan Svěrák and written by his father Zdeněk Svěrák, who also stars in the film. It was released first in the Czech Republic in March 2007. The film is a comedy from the same team which made '' Ko ...

'' (2007) * ''Bony a klid II'' (2014) * ''Masha and the Bear'' (2015 – ice show) * '' The Devil's Mistress'' (2016)

References

External links

* 1951 births Living people Prague Conservatory alumni Musicians from Prague Czech composers Czech film score composers Czech male film score composers {{CzechRepublic-composer-stub