She began her career as an actor in the mid-1970s, appearing in several Czech feature films, but switched to playing violin and singing in the early 1980s.

The second of three daughters, she grew up in a musical family where her father Koloman Bitto (Hungarian: Bittó Kálmán), a famous musician of Hungarian–Romani origin from southern Slovakia, played guitar, trumpet and double bass in folk and classical ensembles, and her mother Lidmila Bittová (née Masařová) sang in professional vocal groups.

For the next ten years, Bittová worked as an actress, appearing in several Czech feature films and Brno television and radio productions.

In the early 1980s, Bittová returned to music and studied violin under Rudolf Šťastný, a teacher at JAMU, the Janáček Academy in Brno.

The duo also attracted the attention of English avant-garde guitarist Fred Frith, who featured them in a documentary film on him, Step Across the Border (1990), which gave them their first broad international exposure and a tour outside of Eastern Europe.

[1] AllMusic.com writes: "Her irresistible charm, original use of voice, and fondness of melodies that sit on the border of avant-garde and playground nursery rhymes won her devoted fans around the world.

HK Gruber Arabic voice in Stabat Mater Karl Jenkins With Timothy Hill, David Rothenberg "New Cicada Trio: Live in Beacon (2017, CD, Terra Nova Music)