František Kop is a saxophonist, composer and teacher. He was born in 1959 in Prague, learned the clarinet from 1972 and from 1979 studied tenor saxophone and jazz improvisation with Karel Velebný at the People’s Conservatory (today’s Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory). In 1983 he co-founded the band Naima, which was voted best jazz group three times between 1987 and 1989. He has played with Emil Viklický, in the band J.A.R. and in Petr Malásek’s band, and accompanied Hana Hegerová and Marta Kubišová. In 1995 he founded the František Kop Quartet, and in 1998 he was elected president of the Czech Jazz Society. He teaches at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory. On Amplión Records he released the albums News of the Past (2020), Chillies (2022) and Concrete Dreams (2024). More at kopfrantisek.com.
