Pavel Steidl was born in Rakovník (Czech Republic). Since he won first prize at the Radio France International Competition in Paris in 1982, he has become one of the most widely celebrated soloists of his generation. Among the members of the jury were names of such artists as Alexander Tansman, Antonio Lauro, and Maria Luisa Anido. Before that, he studied with guitarists such as Milan Zelenka and Stephan Rak in Prague. In 1987, he decided to emigrate to the Netherlands, where, after years of studying and gaining inspiration from many different artists, he created his own style that does not ignore the authentic way of interpreting 19th-century guitar literature on period instruments while also incorporating elements of world music. Since 2004, he has moved back to the Czech Republic, and since 2019, he has been teaching at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.

He had the honor of working with such artists as Leo Brouwer, Carlo Domeniconi, Paolo Paolini, John Williams, Miroslav Vitouš, Karin Schaupp, Edin Karamazov, and others. Together with Zoran Dukic, Reentko Dirks, and Thomas Fellow, he has been a member of the European Guitar Quartet since 2012.

Pavel Steidl also composes, and his own compositions are often played at his concerts or on recordings. He has performed in more than 40 countries around the world, including Canada, the USA, China, India, Japan, Europe, South and Central America, Australia, and many others. At the request of the Italian Guitar Magazine Guitart, the readers chose him as Guitar Player of the Year 2004. Pavel Steidl plays many instruments, but mainly Francisco Simplicio (1926), Walter Verreydt, Franz Butcher, and Federico Sheppard. His romantic guitars include copies of J.G. Stauffer guitars made by B. Kresse and original instruments from the beginning of the 19th century, such as Nikolaus G. Ries (circa 1830) and Johann Anton Stauffer (circa 1840).