VACLAV HUML, Croatian violinist and pedagogue of the Czech origin (Beroun, Bohemia, September 18th 1880 – Zagreb, Croatia, January 6th 1953). Studied in Prague with Otokar Ševčik, and concerted in Lavov. Since 1903 he was working and living in Zagreb as a teacher of violin and chamber music at the Croatian Music Institute School.. From 1921 until his death he was a professor at the Music Academy.
Beside that he performed as a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles (a trio with H. Tkalčić), and was a co-founder and the first violin of the Zagreb Quartet (1919 with M. During his pedagogical career he educated more than 200 violinists, so he is regarded as a founder of the Zagreb Violinistic School. His pedagogical work was based on violin technique in a disciplined manner with fundamental elements of O. Ševčik and K. Among the Huml’s famous students with concert and pedagogical career there are Z. Baloković, J. Miranov, I. Pinkava, M. Barić, Lj. Spiller, S. Šulek, Z. Topolski and many others. In memory of the Huml’s work and activity the Croatian Music Institute in 1953 founded an award with his name for the best graduates of string instruments at the Music Academy in Zagreb. From 1977, in Zagreb, every four years, the International Vaclav Huml Violin Competition is holding on. (CROATIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA, 5th vol., The LEXICOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE “Miroslav Krleža”)
The Vaclav Huml Memorial was held in January 1973 in the Croatian Music Institute on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of Vaclav Huml. Twenty three violin soloists took part, from home and abroad, with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra and the Zagreb Soloists. A monograph called Vaclav Huml was published, and a record was issued called Pupils of Vaclav Huml; a lecture was held, together with a panel discussion and instrument exhibition. Four years later, in 1977, the International Vaclav Huml Violin Competition was set up, organised by the Croatian Music Institute. At the head of the international jury of 12 members was the celebrated violinist Henryk Szeryng (1918 – 1988). He was succeeded as president of the jury by the celebrated pupil of Vaclav Huml Ljerko Spiller of Buenos Aires, then by Josef Suk (Prague) since 2005, and by Viktor Tretiyakov (Russia) from 2013. Today the head of the jury is Pavel Vernikov.
