Jan Cizmar is versatile performer on historical plucked instruments. He performs with groups such as Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) , Ensemble Elyma, European Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) 05-07 , Britten Pears Baroque Orchestra (BPBO) 06-07 , Nova Silesia , Vox Luminis , Lacrime Amorose , InVento.
After completing his guitar and musicology studies in his native Brno, Czech Republic, he was at the Royal College of Music in London studying lute with Jakob Lindberg and classical guitar with Carlos Bonell. Following were his studies with Nigel North , Joachim Held and Mike Fentross at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag, Holland. As well he has taken masterclasses with Hopkinson Smith, Evangelina Mascardi and Christina Pluhar. With various ensembles and conductors he has performed at festivals across Europe.
In his non-early music past he was busy as a rock, jazz and later as a classical guitarist. He toured Europe with New York production of Jesus Christ Superstar as a rock guitarist and has appeared on stage with the Lindsay Kemp Company - Spanish tour of Elisabeth I: El ultimo baile a.o.
He was the founder and editor-in-chief of the Czech guitar and lute magazine Kytara and regularly contributes to other musical periodicals. He has also worked as a musical editor for several publishing houses including Bärenreiter.
