BIOGRAPHY

Ľudovít Kotlár was born in 1992 into a family of musicians, which predestined his career. At the age of 6, he started piano lessons at the primary art school where he studied classical music. Later, while studying at the conservatory, he became fascinated by jazz and knew that this was the music he wanted to pursue. After passing the entrance exams to the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts he became a member of several musical groups, one of the most important collaborations was with the winner of the talent contest Superstar Monika Bagarova with whom he collaborated for more than 6 years. He completed his master studies in Katowice, Poland, during which time he was a member of Gustav Brom's Bigband and many other Polish jazz ensembles with whom he performed at almost all major festivals. In 2018 he recorded his debut album Hangin on which he also collaborates with Grammy award winner Wayne Escoffery and trumpeter Lukas Oravec. Later, he was also a sideman in Igor Kmet's band. A few years later he became a member of the Lukáš Oravec Orchestra, which is currently one of the best big bands on the Central European scene. In addition to his jazz activities, he is also active in popular music as a pianist in Ludo Kuruc's band, with whom he performs regularly throughout Slovakia, and he has also started his solo singing career and several of his songs are played on radio stations with a Slovak-wide reach. He is currently working on a new album with the Bereza&Kotlar project and the band SOLE.