Štěpán Rak

Štěpán Rak (born 8 August 1945) is a Czech classical guitarist and composer of Ukrainian origin. He is well known for the technical innovations that he uses in his compositions. Štěpán Rak was born as Štěpán Slivka in Prague to Cilja (Vasilina) Slivka (1924-1993). His mother escaped from Carpathian Ruthenia in 1941 after it was occupied by Hungary. She was imprisoned in USSR and joined Czechoslovak Army in 1944. Štěpán was adopted by Marie and Josef Rak in 1946 and his biological mother later returned to Ukraine.

Rak first studied at a Fine Arts High School in Prague and continued with guitar studies at the Prague Conservatory until 1970. Later he studied composition at the Prague Academy of Arts. In 1973, his orchestral composition Hiroshima won a second prize at a Czechoslovak competition for young composers. From 1975 to 1980 he taught guitar at the Jyväskylä Conservatory in Finland. After his return to Czechoslovakia he taught at Prague Conservatory. Since 1982 he has been teaching guitar at Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Rak speaks English, Russian, Finnish and German.