Patricia Burda Janečková

Patricia Burda Janečková (18 June 1998 – 1 October 2023) was a German-born Slovak soprano.

She was the winner of the Czech–Slovak television show Talentmania in November 2010 and became famous through the broadcasting of CNN television shortly after winning.

Early life

Janečková was born in Münchberg, Germany to Slovak parents. Shortly after, her family moved to Ostrava in the Czech Republic. She started singing at four years old. Having graduated from primary school, she began studying at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava.

Professional career

Her first public performance was at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre, where she performed for the first time with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. Subsequent to this, she went on to win the Talentmania TV show and then released her début album. In 2014, she won the international singing competition at the Concorso Internazionale di Musica Sacra in Rome.

G. Rossini: Petite messe solennelle, Crucifixus

In 2015, she got a standing ovation in rendering Once Upon a Time in the West at the Rudolfinum, Prague. She performed in public while studying privately with Czech soprano Eva Dřízgová-Jirušová.

In 2017, she performed Galatea in Acis and Galatea with Collegium Marianum as part of the Janáček Music Festival.

Cancer diagnosis and death

On 10 February 2022, Janečková announced on her Instagram page that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and would be taking a career hiatus for an undetermined length of time. Despite early signs of a successful treatment, which allowed her to briefly return to performing in 2023, Janečková died from her illness on 1 October 2023.

Personal life

Janečková married the actor Vlastimil Burda in June 2023.