Born in a family of musicians, Jaromír Vogel (1943) was from his early childhood influenced by various musical genres and he loved the theatre. At the age of seventeen he became a co-founder of the theatre of small forms „Frmol“ (Bustle), where he acted, sang, composed songs and wrote sketches. He even played double-bass in the theatre band.

After his military service (1963) he established several dance, jazz and beat bands, including a 40-member rock ensemble Heaven's Angels (a beat group combined with a symphonic orchestra – the first of its type in the Czech Republic). Among the outstanding artists, who co-operated with this ensemble, we can find for example the singers Jiri Helekal, Jitka Vrbova, Jaromir Mayer, Josef Laufer, Jenyk Pacak, Ota Bezloja, Karel Schneider, directors Radovan Kratky, Ladislav Reznicek and the actor Jiri Nemecek.

During the time he was playing also with many famous artists.

Later, Jaromir Vogel became enchanted with Renaissance music. And it was also necessary to complete his professional musical education. As under the communist regime he was not allowed to attend conservatory, he studied conducting and composition at the so-called ‘Popular Conservatory’, and took private lessons of composition from professor Jan Zdenek Bartos. (After the Velvet Revolution Jaromir Vogel was admitted to university after all, but not as a student but as a teacher.)

At the beginning of the seventies he got his first orders to compose scenic and film music and he also founded the ensemble Ala Bohemica(of 75 members). With this orchestra they started to perform arrangements and interpretations of Renaissance music, but soon Jaromir Vogel increased the pursuit of his own music, which finally constituted the whole repertoire. He invented a new term describing his compositional efforts: "Inspirenes" or inspired by Renaissance. The ensemble ceased to exist in 1985, but his repertoire remains timeless.

The variability of genres he followed included even such styles as jazz, pop music and folk (authoring co-operation with the folk band ‘Trdlo’ and the first prize at the folk competition “Porta” in Pilsen).

Recently he has focused on classical music, above all with Old Testament topics. At the request of the Prague Jewish Community he composed, for example, Judith’s Song, premiered at the occasion of the reopening of Pinkas’ Synagogue, (violoncello solo Jiri Hosek). In September 2001, at the 5th Music Festival Non-conventional Zizkov Autumn two of his orchestral compositions Jom Kipur and Sarah (featuring Virtuosi Pragenses, violin solo Alexander Shonert, harp solo Pavla Jahodova-Vondrackova, clarinet Michal Kostiuk).

A few years ago, Jaromir Vogel founded the orchestra Sharbilach, with the repertory consisting mostly of his compositions in Jewish style and of Jewish folk song arrangements. Due to the unique interlacing of classical, popular and folk music, the style of this ensemble remains original and diverse.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, Jaromir Vogel composed the symphonic poem "Yad Vashem", inspired by the visit of the Holocaust Memorial in Israel. This composition was premiered under the auspices of the Minister of Culture Pavel Dostal, Curator of the Jewish Museum Dr. Leo Pavlat, The Masaryk Academy of Arts and The Israeli Embassy on December 4, 2005 in the Jubilee Synagogue (Jerusalem Street) in Prague, and it was dedicated to Sir Nicholasi Wintonovi. The opus was performed by the expanded orchestra Sharbilach, conducted by Viatcheslav Grochovski.

In September 2006, his 90-minute symphonic "Missa Ecumenica" was premiered (for soloists, children and mixed choirs, a symphonic orchestra, small military wind band and declamation) in Municipal House – Smetana Hall (Prague) under the auspices of The Mayor of the City of Prague. This composition merges Latin and orthodox liturgical texts with Hebrew and Czech psalms, instrumental and ethnic music. Missa Ecumenica was dedicated to the 5th anniversary of 9/11 attack in New York, and to all victims of terrorist attacks and wars. (Performers: conductor Jiri Petrdlik, Czech Symphonic Orchestra ‘FISYO’, choirmaster Jan Svejkovsky, solo Edita Adlerova, Miloslava Fouskova, Nadezda Chrobakova, Dana Krausova, Lenka Pecharova, Jaroslav Brezina, Jevhen Shokalo, Jiri Sulzenko, Dalibor Tolas, declamation Zdenek Lonicek.)

In the same year (2006) two other opuses were premiered: on May 19, rhapsodiette „Music for Europe“ (harp solo Pavla.Jahodova-Vondrackova, philharmonic strings conducted by Jiri Havlik) and on August 24, Menora (performed by Collegium Bohemia).

In 2001, Jaromir Vogel was awarded the Diploma of Franz Kafka, from the European Circle “Franz Kafka” in Prague, and the a Prize of Gustav Mahler from the European Union of Arts. In 2002, he won the World Prize of Antonin Dvorak from the Masaryk Academy of Arts and in 2006 the prize Euro Pragensis Ars.

He has composed a great amount of music for film, TV, theatre, fairy tales, melodramas and musicals.

Theatre plays
Romeo and Juliet (The Burgave of The Prague Castle), Theatrum Passionale (St. George Basilica), It Is Always a Hazard to Marry (theatre Solidarita), The Fiddler at the Wedding, Gimpl the Fool (Hradec Kralove and Cheb), Sentimental Education, Rudolf II and rabi Loew (theatre Minor), Not With Your Daughter (Opava), Oidipus Rex (Reduta), Mr. Biedermann and the Arsonists, Sopalovic and his Rowing Theatre (ABC Theatre), The Cabbage Soup, Mr. Tovje is Marrying his Daughters, Antigona (Kladno), The Public Eye (Ostrava), Jotam - the Eternal Child (U Hasicu), The Rat-catcher (a Prize of the Jury), Simon, The Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti (Lyra Pragensis), The Woman in the Gallop of the Century, All Ladies (Would) Kill, Too Many Deceased, Alfred Story, The Hearth and the Sword, The Man Who Trembles, White Nights

Theatre fairy tales
Goldilocks, The Snow Queen, The Stolen Moon, The Story about a Golden Thread (a Prize for Music), Playing with the Devil, Dalskabaty, Asagao, Raduz and Mahulena, The Prince Hajaja, Dancing with the Devil, Rudolf II and Rabbi Loew, How to Make a Princess Sing, Bajaja, Puss in Boots, About a Reformed Dragon, The Sleeping Beauty, 300 in One Hit

Film and television – fairy tales
Annie with Hazelnuts, Three Bunnies in January, The Fox and the Vineyard, About a Big-nosed Cook, Three Happy Cherries, Happy Slippers, The Story about the Hard-working Sparrow, Do Not Cry Now, The Yellow Story, The Orange Story, The Sunflower, My Grandfather Botanist

Radio fairy tales and programs
Aucassin and Nicolette, Annie and the Marionettes, Murmur the Whisper, Lovely Ladies Loving

Musicals
Men in Offside, Esther, Sharbilach and Keep the Bride, Mr. Posiles (for the the Prague Jewish Community), Queen Scooter (Karlínek), The Ti Soldier, a combined performance of songs “Dawn under the Stars” for the Prague Planetarium, the orchestration and realisation of the musical “The Nuns” (Theatre Opava), “Beggar’s Opera“ (The Marionette Theatre Kladno)

Films
How a Man is Born, Judging You through Love, The Lesson on Now, Epilogue (awarded), The Song about Regret, The Craftly Photographer, The Mistake, The Train of Hope (for the Slovakian Institution of the Nation’s Memory), The Actress Vava Schoen, The Tribute to Santini

TV performances and documents
Macha, No Sheep Coming, We Survived – Sorry, Welcome to the Land of Israel, Aerobic (a prize for music in Hungary), Semtex Story, OIRT, The Water on the Bottom, The Town of Ralsko in Year One, Standing on One‘s Own, From Seven to Four

Video-art
Via Crucis, The Czech Glass

Series
The Scarred Face of the Towns, ‘Tuzemsky konzumni’, Holocaust

Dramatic works
Melodramas: David’s psalm 18, Psalm 90, Prophet Elias, Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
Several winning participations in childrens’ song competitions; many songs in television programmes for children.

Jaromir Vogel often co-operates with Israeli authors (Nava Semel, Jicchak Ben Jozef).

CD’s and MC’s
Baruch Hashem l-5, Music dedicated to Shakespeare, If I think of You, Gimpl the Fool, Inspirenes, Intradas and Preambula, Prague – The Jewish City, Annie with Hazelnuts, Stop the Time, Gemini, Musica Buffa, Greating to Swing, Melodies for Euridica, Music for the textbook ‘English in Music‘ etc. (see discography).

Apart from his own discography, Jaromir Vogel’s music has been published in many CDs of various interprets, e.g. Alexander Shonert, Trdlo, Jiri Pavlica, Bohnice MISH-MASH, Hear Israel Izraeli, Hotel Bohemia

He composed the theme song for the International Festival of Marionette Theatres in Prague, for the Festival ‘Nine Gates’, also for the Festival Slivenec and the anthem for the town of Vrsovice.

With the ensemble Sharbilach he participated in the final recording of the television programme „Sešli se“, together with the famous ensemble Hradistan and the British band Living Spirits.

Published Abroad
Jaromir Vogel – Jewish Melodies, Der Tag geht auf, Wurm im Apfel, Der Maulwurf kommt aus Tagesllicht, Tchi-kung Exercises for PAU As a special acknowledgement, the CD ‘Jaromir Vogel: Jewish Melodies II’ was published by Radio Classic FM, which never published any CD before or after. The Commitee for creative activities in the fields of theatre and radio, a department of the Czech Literary Fund, during the entire length of its existence has awarded a sole prize for music – to Jaromir Vogel, for his music to Sofokles‘ Antigona. The music publishing house Panton chose the only contemporary polonaise to be published together with the opuses by P. I. Tchaikovsky and A. Dvorak – the one by Jaromir Vogel.
He received the personal thanks and blessing of the Pope John Paul II, to whom he dedicated his Pontifical Preambulum during the Pope’s visit to Prague.
Currently he has been working on the production of the musical Queen Esther. The libretto was written by Jan Schneider; and more prominent artists agreed to perform (singers Marta Kubisova, Karel Gott, Vaclav Neckar, opera soloists Edita Adlerova, Zdenek Hlavka). He finished the music for the musical Golem, his Symphonic suite Judith and Holophernes, King David, Clown’s Afternoon, Abrahan and Sarah, Rachel, Sarele. He has been working on the orchestral and piano versions of Hebrew Dances, preparing the cycle The Biblical Women and several new compositions for the ensemble Sharbilach. He co-operates with the guitar player Pavel Kloub, the harpist Pavla Jahodova-Vondrackova, the cellist Jiri Hosek, the ensemble Collegium Bohemia, and, in the scope of ethnofusion, with the multi-instrumentalist Swetja. In autumn 2007, Jaromir Vogel will participate in the coming year of melodrama in Prague and he is also collecting materials for the first opera with a biblical topic, ‘Pogrom’. He is a member of the Rotary Club Ecumena, the Club B´nai B´rith Renaissance, The Czech Federation of Authors and Interprets (SAI), The Performing and Mechanical Rights Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (OSA), and the Association of Music Scientists and Artists. He gives occasional lectures on the history and presence of Jewish music. More about Jaromir Vogel can be found in Who is Who, or in the Web Music Dictionary, published by The Masaryk Academy in Brno.