About
Alan was born in Lucenec on February 22, 2001, and comes from a family of musicians (father Stefan is an established Jazz Artist). Alan’s talent began to manifest in his early childhood. As a four- year- old he began attending piano lessons at the Art School in Lucenec. Alan was awarded his first diploma at a very early age in a regional piano competition. After moving with his family to Austria’s Neusiedl am See in 2012, he began his studies at the local music school. Over a short period of time, he worked his way up to the top students in Burgenland, which opened him doors to master classes led by the best teachers and performing artists. He performed at several public concerts organized by the Piano academy Oberschützen.
In 2014 Alan enrolled in the Church Conservatory in Bratislava, where he was admitted as an extraordinary student to the class of Mgr.Art Andrea Balešová ArtD. Under her leadership he participated in a number of international competitions, most notable being – Brno 2015-3rd place, Eisenstadt 2016 – 2nd place, Kamenice nad Lipou 2016 -1st place, MILANO 2017 -3rd place.
In 2018 he began his studies at the MUK University Vienna jazz piano under the leadership of professor Oliver Kent.
In addition to studying jazz and classical piano, Alan is dedicated to improvisation and composition. He has valuable experience from performing on jazz stages along with professional artists under his belt. Following his audition at the Vienna Festival, Alan was chosen to be one of the finalists. A festival performance with legends of Austrian jazz scene helped Alan to kick-start his career. Alan’s name is already on three different albums – Nina Berglova’s Inou Krajinou, New Faces of Slovak Jazz and Alan&Stefan Bartus Trio Connectivity. Alan is currently working on his debut album, which he recorded with the legendary Gregory Hutchinson, Kornel Fekete Kovács and his father Stefan Pista Bartus.
2017 Alan and his Trio (J.Valíček, M.Štubniak) became the absolute winner of the Jazz Start Up competition and was awarded the Convincing Instrumental Performance Award at the event New Face of the Slovak Jazz Competition. This huge success opened the doors to even more events, most notably Bratislava Jazz Days Festival,Top Jazz Fest, Jazz Fest Trencin (Jazz pod Hradom) Liptov Jazz Fest etc.. In 2022 Alan won the solo piano competition Excellence Piano Awards, Grand Prix Majestic Excellence Award and Piano Solo Professional Gold Award. In the same year, Alan won the prestigious Austrian Ö1 Jazz Prize and was accepted to one of the best jazz schools in the world, the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2022, Alan was given a great honor – an opportunity to collaborate with the living legend of American jazz, saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, with whom he toured and recorded an album. Alan has also recorded and toured with the respected New York saxophonist, Tim Armacost.
