Magdalena Westman

Michael Kocáb, Gail Zappa and Magdalena Westman.

Magdalena Kocábová (since her second marriage: Magdalena Westman) (b. June 26, 1958) is a Czech manager and art therapist. Her brother is Michael Kocáb.

She originally worked as an administrative collaborator at the child psychiatrical hospital in Motol and as assistant-teacher on a school for mentally challenged children in Hodkovičky. In 1989, after The Velvet Revolution led to a regime change in Czechoslovakia, Kocábová became an assistant and manager of her brother, who was active both in music and politics. Since the late 2000s, Magdalena works as an art therapist at the University of Southern Bohemia.

Frank Zappa

In 1990, when Zappa visited Czechoslovakia for the first time, at the instigation of Michael Kocáb, he received an overwhelming reception, with crowds of people gathering at the airport to welcome him. Back then, Kocábová wasn't familiar with Zappa's music, so to her it was less special. She would only become a fan much later.

In 1991, when Zappa and his wife Gail Zappa visited Czechoslovakia for the second time to perform with Kocáb's group, Pražský Výběr, Magdalena organized the event. However, Zappa arrived a day too early (on Sunday evening instead of Monday evening) and so the airport was empty. Magdalena went to pick them up, explaining the situation. Another letdown was that all the political meetings between Zappa and Czech politicians were cancelled under pressure of US Secretary of Treasury James Baker III who said that the Czech government had to chose whether they wanted to do business with Zappa, or the US government.

Michael Kocáb and Magdalena Westman are mentioned and thanked in the liner notes of The MOFO Project/Object (2006) album.

In her 2017 autobiography Hladce Obrace Nahodit Sejmout, Kocábova also devoted a chapter to Zappa's visit. In 2026, she was interviewed by Pauline Butcher and video footage of their conversations was made available on Butcher's YouTube channel.

See also

• Michael Kocáb