Aleš Valášek
Ausstattung
is a Set and Costume Designer and Architect from Czech Republic.
He grew up in Khartoum in Sudan and returned in 1988 with his family to Czechoslovakia, where he received his education. He received a degree in Costume Design at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and later M. S. in Architecture and Urban Design at Technical University in Liberec where he graduated with honors. In 2006, he studied as a residency student at London College of Fashion within the Department Costume for Performing Arts.
In 2008 he pursued a further study in Set and Costume Design at Motley Theatre Design Course in London. In 2009, he was the overall winner of the prestigious British Linbury Prize for Stage Design.
His work includes set and costume designs for over 100 productions and spans across all genres and scales, from alternative theatre to opera, musical theatre, and film, from small children’s theatre to large-scale opera venues.
His portfolio includes “Giselle and La Bayadère” (Moravské divadlo, Olomouc, CZ), “Carmen” and operetta “Polish Blood” (National Theatre, Brno CZ and Odessa Academic Theatre of Musical Comedy, Odessa, Ukraine), “L’Italiana in Algeri”, “Swan Lake”, “Rusalka”, “Nabucco”, Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” and “L’Incoronazione di Poppea”, Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Mozart and Salieri” (J. K. Tyl Theatre, Plzeň, CZ), “Turandot” and “Il Trovatore” (Revolving Theatre, Český Krumlov, CZ), “Countess Maritza” (State Opera, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia), “The Bat” (State Theatre, Košice, Slovakia).
His recent projects include costume design for “Titanic” and “Anastasia” in Landestheater Linz, “Aspects of Love” (Münster), “The King and I” (Mörbisch Seefestspiele), “Pippin” (Dresden), “Klangwolke 2023” (Linz). He debuted in the United States with the costume design for the musical “The Sound of Music” at the Glimmerglass Festival (Stage director: Francesca Zambello). In 2024, he will debut at the Houston Grand Opera as costume designer for “The Sound of Music”.
As costume and set designer, he worked alongside the creator of “Les Misérables”, Alain Boublil, on the Czech production of the West End musical Marguerite with music by Michel Legrand in 2010. In 2018, he designed costumes for German-speaking premiere of the legendary musical “An American in Paris” at the Landestheater Linz (Linz, Austria) directed by Nick Winston and the German Tour directed by Christopher Tölle. In 2019, he designed a permanent collection of sculptures for Museum Hořice in the Czech Republic, which was awarded the National Prize “Gloria Musaealis” and “Patrimonium Pro Futuro” Prize by The National Heritage Institute in 2020.
In 2014, Hana Pinkavová filmed a documentary about his life and work called “Jít za svým snem” (“Follow your dream…”) for Czech TV channel ČT Art. Between 2016-2018, he taught Costume Design as an external tutor at the Academy of Performing Arts Prague.
In 2023 he was awarded the prestigious Deutsche Musical Theater Preis for “Best Costume Designs” for the musical “Dällebach Kari” (Thunerseespiele, Thun, Switzerland).
Aleš Valášek also works as an illustrator and concept artist.