Active in sacred music for over 30 years, Karel combines musical composition and performance with photography, video and engineering design. He collaborates with other artists and their work, including poetry and prose – both spoken and sung, visual art, music improvisation, dance and drama.
Karel was born in Czechoslovakia, where he studied piano, organ, and composition, and earned his M.S. in engineering. He led and composed for avant-garde ensembles and performed in major live venues, radio, television, and studio recordings.
Recent commissions include “Sound Poem Inspired by Nosferatu” for the Choral Arts Society, and “Transfigurations” for a midi-activated organ. His blues and rock liturgies were introduced in area churches. He is founder/director of Voices and Verses, and has facilitated many collaborative, multi-media performances.
Engineering accomplishments include a Daily Reporter Top Projects award for Alternative Learning Center, West Allis; a solar/wind/hydro/biogas power plant in Tanzania; pier structures for Discovery World, Milwaukee; and the Anheuser-Busch Western Malt Facility, featured in National Geographic’s “Ultimate Factories.”
