He was born in Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. Until the age of 18 he worked in the quarry. His meeting with the famous Czech cello pedagogue Karel P. Sádlo proved to be a turning point in his life. Sádlo supported him, introduced him to the cello and tutored him for the Conservatoire. Between 1948-52 Sláma completed his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. By this time he had already been a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The legendary conductor Václav Talich encouraged Sláma's enthusiasm for chamber music and had, along with K.P.Sádlo and later Milan Munclinger, a lasting influence on Sláma's musical development. During the next 45 years Sláma performed with leading chamber ensembles in Czechoslovakia. In 1946 he was a founding member of Talich's Czech Chamber Orchestra, between 1953-1976 the viol da gambist of Pro Arte Antiqua and between 1954-1997 a member of the ensemble Ars Rediviva, whose performances and recordings played an important role in the revival of the Baroque music in Czechoslovakia. With these ensembles he made a large number of recordings, which received several awards both in Czechoslovakia and abroad. He participated also in first performances of modern compositions.
Pedagogue and publicist
Since the 1970s he was a teacher at the Conservatoire in Prague. He also wrote about music and musicians, cooperated with Czech Radio.
In 2001 his book "Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek" was published - reminiscences about the Prague music scene between the 1940s and the 1990s as well as about Sláma's musical colleagues, conductors and other personalities whom he had met.
František Sláma archive
František Sláma archive collection donated to his native village Heralec consists of more than 5000 negatives and photos, over 150 hours of authentic recordings and documents about Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Václav Talich, Milan Muclinger, Ars Rediviva, etc. Live recordings of Ars Rediviva performances in Rudolfinum are also deposited in the Czech Music Museum.
