Antonín Dvořák

Dvořák was a composer, pianist, violist, violinist and organist who grew up in a small country village in the Czech region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied music at Prague's Organ School, but was largely self-taught in composition. Through the 1860s, he played viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theatre Orchestra where was able to absorb a wide variety of musical influences. He lived in poverty well into his 30s when he was finally able to publish some music with the help of Johannes Brahms.

From 1892 to 1895, Dvořák served as director of the National Conservatory in New York City. Far more progressive than other schools of the time, Dvořák’s National Conservatory welcomed women, Native American and African-American students.

It was during his time in the United States that he wrote his popular Symphony No.9 'From the New World’ and his famous Cello Concerto. Dvořák spent a summer playing the organ and writing music at a Czech colony in Spillville, Iowa.

In addition to music, he was said to love locomotive engines, steamships, and the breeding of pigeons.

When he returned to Prague, he took a post at the conservatoire, and from 1901 until his death in 1904 served as its director. Dvořák’s works include operas, concertos, symphonies, symphonic poems, songs, works for solo piano and chamber pieces. His music is often associated with the sound of Czech folk music, although he almost always wrote his own material rather than borrowing from actual folk songs.