My biography
Born in the Czech Republic, Mirka has studied classical music, voice, and piano since the age of six. Within two years, she began to write her own music. While still in high-school, Mirka appeared on the Czech Public Television, performing one of her compositions, and soon thereafter, she performed at the finals of the only vocal popular music competition in her country, also broadcast on the Czech Public TV.
While in college, Mirka focused her attention on arranging and formed a vocal a cappella ensemble (which later became the group NoBand), performing her arrangements of traditional African American gospel songs, as well as her own music at venues in Brno, Prague, and other major cities in the Czech Republic. Mirka recorded a portion of her gospel repertoire for a live CD Live Forever and released her own compositions on Another Time.
After finishing undergraduate education, Mirka was offered a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Jazz Studies Program at the University of New Orleans, founded by Ellis Marsalis, and to pursue a master’s degree in vocal jazz. She has studied with some of New Orleans greatests, including Steve Masakowski, Ed Petersen, Victor Atkins, Leah Chase, Brian Seeger, or Steve Reynolds, and performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with a university gospel ensemble.
As an educator, Mirka has taught music theory and musicianship courses to students at the University of New Orleans (UNO), and worked as a vocal director on an area musical theater production directed by Rene J. F. Piazza.
Mirka has also released two CDs with jazz standards, one of which was to benefit the University of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and had the pleasure to perform at official ceremonies for the Czech Ambassador to the United States, the Czech President, and for the Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco at a higher education summit. Mirka is a member of a rising vocal jazz ensemble UNO Jazz Voices and performs with other UNO Jazz Studies Combos.
What is NoBand?
NoBand is a group of jazz musicians based in the Czech Republic, who reunite twice a year for a series of concert performances. The band’s repertoire is a mixture of distinctive arrangements of Jazz, Blues, and Latin standards, gospel songs, and Mirka Jichova’s compositions in the tradition of blues, jazz, R&B, soul, funk and gospel. NoBand has Jan Mendelsson on piano, Vojta Bystrý on drums, Radek Kovalíček or Petr Pospíšil on bass, Ondra Bystrý and Honza Holčapek on tenor saxophones, and vocalist Jana Ondráková.
To book Mirka for one of your events, please go to the “contact” page.
