After graduating from the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, he completed his studies with a postgraduate degree at the P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He was a laureate of several international competitions.

After graduation he joined the Czech Trio, became a soloist of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague FOK and since 1979 he has been the principal of the Suk Quartet. He has been a soloist since 1965 and has given many premieres of works by his contemporaries (Fišer, Bárta, Matěj, Korte, etc.).

He began his teaching career in 1968 at the HAMU, from where he was forced to leave in 1975 for political reasons, and then helped build the string department at the Pardubice Conservatory. In 1990 he returned to the HAMU, was appointed professor and served as vice-dean for international affairs for 7 years and currently heads the international class.

He plays solo in duo with his daughter Michaela, is an honorary member of the B. Martinů, the J. Suk Society, the String Teachers Association (ESTA) and has been invited to give masterclasses all over the world and in 2005 taught at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

He writes articles for the professional press, records for radio and TV, and is a member of competition juries at home and abroad. He also creates extraordinary concert programmes under the title “With Strauss Beyond the Everyday” in which he often places music in a general cultural context. For several years he prepared the regular “Ivan Straus Listening Room” for Czech Radio.

He received the International Society for Science and Culture Award in 2006, the Hlávka Foundation Gold Medal in 2017, and the Minister of Culture Award this year.