1989–2003: Early life Chodúr was born in
Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. He inherited an appreciation of music from his parents. His grandmother, Božena Onderková-Poremská, had been a member of the opera choir of the provincial theatre in
Moravian Ostrava (today's
National Moravian-Silesian Theatre) since 1945, and he often sang with his mother, accompanied by guitar. At the age of three, he began attending the
People's Conservatory and the Music School in
Ostrava-Mariánské Hory, where he studied singing and
recorder. During his twelve years at the conservatory, Chodúr also learned to play the accordion,
heligonka, and keyboards. At the same time, he began composing classical music and performed a clarinet concerto as part of his graduation concert. Chodúr also took private lessons in composition from Ostrava composer
Pavel Helebrand. Since childhood, he has also been passionate about poetry, literature, and English. His first published work, a poem called "Joy", appeared in the 2003/2004
Almanac of Student Poetry. Chodúr's real musical beginnings came when he was eleven years old. The recorder was replaced by a clarinet, which he had begun studying with bass clarinetist Jiří Masný at the
Janáček Conservatory and Grammar School in Ostrava. Masný, as a member of the
Janáček Philharmonic, collaborated on recording Chodúr's Christmas album
Hallelujah (Vánoční písně a koledy). Chodúr had already begun to develop his piano playing in the first year at the Janáček Conservatory, and this became part of his creative process. During his high school years, Chodúr devoted himself to guitar and singing. He started a group called Eruption of Emotions with drummer Tomáš Novák, who was a classmate of his older brother, Marek. At first, they played as a guitar/vocals and drums duo. Later, guitarist Adam Čermák joined. The group's membership changed frequently, and over the next five years, they changed their name to The Moods and added violin to their lineup. The group played club performances, participated in the music mini-festival Podchodem vstup in Ostrava, and performed at the multi-genre amateur band competition Boom Cup. In addition to participating in his own group, Chodúr also performed as an accompanying bass guitarist and guitar player in the group Mystic Fable, which made it to the Boom Cup 2003 semifinals. In 2006, the group released an album named
Who Is Martin?, which they performed on the
Czech Television program
Noc s Andělem in 2007. After winning
SuperStar in 2009, Chodúr left the band.
2009: SuperStar Upon graduating with a high school diploma from the
Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Ostrava in 2009, Chodúr participated in
SuperStar with support from his Robson bandmates. He stated that it challenged him to sing different genres of music, such as pop, rock, jazz, and others. Competing for the
Česko Slovenská SuperStar title in Bratislava's
Incheba Arena, Chodúr won over his opponent Miroslav Šmajda. The same year, he won the
Český slavík award in the Discovery of the Year category.
Songs that Chodúr interpreted in the competition:
2010–2012: ''Let's Celebrate and Manifest'' After winning
Česko Slovenská SuperStar, Chodúr began working with producer Daniel Hádl on his debut album, ''Let's Celebrate''. He brought ten new compositions to the record—nine with English lyrics and one in Czech, plus a cover of "
Paparazzi" by
Lady Gaga. The record became the bestselling album in the Czech Republic in 2010, and the third bestselling album in the Slovak Republic. It was released in 2010 by
Sony Music. Chodúr recorded the album with an accompanying band that included Slovak musicians Oskar Rozsa and Martin Valihora. After the release of ''Let's Celebrate
, Chodúr began working on his next album, titled Manifest''. The album, sung entirely in Czech, was supported by a big band, including strings and a choir. The ensemble performed at numerous jazz festivals, including Vsetín Jazz Festival, Jarda Marčík Swing Festival, and Těšín Jazz Festival.
2015: 3 Chodúr's third studio album, named simply
3, was also entirely in Czech. It contains thirteen tracks plus a bonus song, "Lullaby". Ostrava musicians, including pianist Vlastimil Šmída, drummer Patrik Benek, saxophonist Marcela Božíková, and others contributed to the record.
2015: Hallelujah (Vánoční písně a koledy) Hallelujah (Vánoční písně a koledy) is Chodúr's fourth album. It was recorded with the sixty-member
Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Marek Prášil. The majority of the tracks on the album are well-known Christmas songs. The title track is Leonard Cohen's famous "
Hallelujah". Other popular covers include "
The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. ==Collaboration with orchestras and big bands==