Michal David

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Michal David

| image = DavidMic.jpg

| caption = Michal David at a concert in Brno

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1960|7|14}}

| origin = Prague, Czechoslovakia

| instrument = Vocals, piano, electronic keyboard

| genre = Jazz, pop

| occupation = Singer, songwriter, producer

| years_active = 1976–present

| label = Sony, Supraphon
Panton

| associated_acts =

| website = {{url|michaldavid.cz}}

}}

Michal David (born name Vladimír Štancl, 14 July 1960, Prague) is a Czech pop-singer, songwriter and producer.{{cite news|url=http://www.denik.cz/hudba/michal-david-hlas-zazivam-momenty-prekvapeni-negativni-i-pozitivni-20120304.html|title=Michal David: Hlas? Zažívám momenty překvapení. Negativní i pozitivní|date=4 March 2012|work=Denik|language=Czech|accessdate=27 July 2012}}

Biography and career

He started his music career during his studies in Prague Conservatory in the 1970s where he created a jazz band with his friends, as jazz has been Michal's main passion and an academic concentration.

However, after a short period of time, he was hired by a successful pop-music producer František Janeček as a piano player, singer and a song-writer and soon became a teenage girls' idol.{{cite web|url=http://www.t-music.cz/magazin/michal-david-svou-colu-jeste-nedopil--317/|title=Michal David svou colu ještě nedopil...|publisher=t-music.cz|language=Czech|accessdate=1 June 2013}}

Michal David had a very successful career as a singer and composer, however after the Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution in 1989, he as well many other Czechoslovak popular singers fell on hard times, since the political situation changed rapidly and the market started to open to other foreign artists and domestic artists lost their popularity for a while. He was also called a pro-regime singer by some critics.{{cite web|url=http://www.blesk.cz/clanek/celebrity-ceske-celebrity/104387/hitmaker-michal-david-zachranili-ho-hokejiste.html|title=Hitmaker Michal David: Zachránili ho hokejisté|last=Šeflová|first=Saša |date=26 November 2008|work=Blesk|language=Czech|accessdate=1 June 2013}} During this time Michal David was mainly focusing on composing and songwriting rather than performing.

His popularity was restored again in 1998 when he composed and sang "hymn" for the Czech national ice hockey team, which won the Nagano Winter Olympics that year.{{cite web|url=http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/1186000189-13-komnata/206562210800020-13-komnata-michala-davida/|title=13. komnata Michala Davida|publisher=Czech Television|language=Czech|accessdate=1 June 2013}}

Then, in 2000, he contributed to the comeback of another famous Czech female singer Helena Vondráčková by writing her a hit song "Dlouhá noc".{{cite web|url=http://kultura.idnes.cz/show_aktual.aspx?c=2003MM43A20A|title=Michal David: umělec, či mistr kýče?|date=23 October 2003|work=Mladá fronta DNES|language=Czech|accessdate=1 June 2013}}

File:Faces of Death.jpg film premiere, first from left.]]

In 2002 Michal David officially composed his first musical show called "Kleopatra" which premiered in Prague theatre Broadway. Since then, Michal has composed more than 5 other musicals, where he was not only a songwriter but the producer as well. Kleopatra along with some of his other musical shows were sold to South Korea where they became instantly successful.

His song "Třetí Galaxie" appeared in Eli Roth's movie "Hostel".

Michal David was a vocal coach on the TV reality talent show The Voice, starting in February 2011 on Czech and Slovak National TV.

Personal life

Michal David is currently living in Prague, Czech Republic with his wife Marcela (Marcela Skuherská), a former successful professional tennis player from the 1980s. (She won the Fed Cup in 1983 and 1984 with her team members Helena Suková, Hana Mandlíková and Iva Budařová, and participated in competitions such as US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon). Michal's daughter Klára obtained her bachelor's degree in arts in New York,{{cite web|url=http://tn.nova.cz/zpravy/zajimavosti/dcera-davida-prchla-do-usa-dite-nechala-na-krku-rodicum.html|title=Dcera Davida prchla do USA! Dítě nechala na krku rodičům!|publisher=TV Nova|language=Czech|accessdate=1 June 2013}} followed by postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford.{{cite web |last1=Šeflová |first1=Saša |title=Zhubla a vyloupla se z ní kráska: Dcera Michala Davida se vrátila domů z Ameriky, bude se starat o syna a hledá práci |url=https://www.super.cz/537747-zhubla-a-vyloupla-se-z-ni-kraska-dcera-michala-davida-se-vratila-domu-z-ameriky-bude-se-starat-o-syna-a-hleda-praci.html |website=Super.cz |accessdate=7 August 2019}}

David has been associated with many charities and non-profits since the death of his second daughter Michaela who died of leukemia at the age of 11.{{cite book|last=David|first=Michal|title=Největší z mých nálezů a ztrát|publisher=IKAR|year=2013|pages=53–57|isbn=9788024921969}}