Jiří Lukeš studied composition with Eduard Douša and accordion with Ladislav Horák at the Prague Conservatory, continuing composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Ivana Loudová. He summarised his research into the instrument’s new sound and performance possibilities in the book New Timbral Possibilities of the Accordion in the Context of Modern Instrumentation.
His compositions have been performed in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Croatia, China, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Japan. He also focuses on intermedia projects — with the photographer Michal Horáček and the choreographer Dana Pala he created the works elementhis!, Materia, Mystika vůně, La Mar, Razzle Dazzle and Golem.
He collaborates regularly with the Berg Chamber Orchestra and the Konvergence ensemble. He teaches at the Prague Conservatory and the Jan Deyl Conservatory, and since 2015 he has represented the Czech Republic in the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes under UNESCO.