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Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra
Introduction
Anima Musicae – the soul of music. The ensemble, which started as a creative string workshop, has become a guest at prestigious concert halls and festivals across Europe and is one of Hungary’s most influential chamber music ensembles.
Founded in 2010, the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra has received several international awards and domestic honors, and it is a regular performer at prominent concert venues in Hungary and Europe. The Junior Prima and Artisjus award-winning group has performed at venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. For years, the ensemble has had its own concert series at the Liszt Academy and the Nádor Hall. Since its inception, it has performed with world-renowned artists such as Emőke Baráth, Kristóf Baráti, Gergely Bogányi, Sir James Galway, David Grimal, Barnabás Kelemen, Sergey Nakaryakov, Miklós Perényi, Ferenc Rados, János Rolla, Shlomo Mintz, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Kirill Troussov, Dénes Várjon, István Várdai, and Tamás Vásáry. The orchestra is a regular guest at both domestic and international festivals, and for several years, it has been the resident ensemble of the Festival Academy Budapest and the Saint Gellért Festival.
The orchestra has released numerous recordings under the Hungaroton label, and its performances have also been recorded by NAXOS and Ongaku Records. With a diverse repertoire spanning from Baroque to 20th-century works, contemporary music holds a prominent place in its program. The orchestra has premiered nearly 80 pieces dedicated to it. The Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra considers the musical education of young people as part of its mission, annually bringing live classical music to thousands of children, both independently and in collaboration with the Hungarian Philharmonic.
Awards and Recognitions
- 2011: V. “Summa Cum Laude” International Youth Festival and Competition, Vienna – 1st place
- 2012: Junior Prima Award
- 2013: Successful pre-selection for the 2014 T.I.M. Competition – Como, Italy
- 2014: T.I.M. International Music Competition, Chamber Music Category – 3rd place, Paris, France
- 2018-2020: National Youth Orchestra title
- 2020: Artisjus Award
- 2022: Sülysáp Memorial Medal
Concerts, Festivals
A regular performer on domestic stages, the ensemble has been organizing a concert series for years at the Liszt Academy’s Grand Hall, the Nádor Hall, and is frequently heard at the Óbuda Community Centre. It is the resident orchestra of the Festival Academy, led by Barnabás Kelemen and Katalin Kokas, and the Saint Gellért Festival. The orchestra has also performed at the “MVM Zenergia” charity concert.
The chamber ensemble has played in numerous concert halls across Europe, including the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. It has also performed in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Turkey, and at prestigious festivals in neighboring countries.
Youth and Charity Concerts
The Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra considers the musical education of young people to be part of its mission. Annually, both independently and in collaboration with the Hungarian Philharmonic, it brings live classical music to thousands of children. As part of its charitable activities, the orchestra has performed at the St. Francis Children’s Home, the VI. Disability Studies Conference, the Óbuda Senior Citizens’ Club, and the Hospice Hospital, as well as at the MVM Zenergia charity concert at the Palace of Arts. During concerts, competitions, and festivals, the orchestra provides performance opportunities for numerous young talents.
World-Renowned Guest Artists
Since its founding in 2010, the ensemble has performed with prominent Hungarian artists such as János Balázs, Emőke Baráth, Kristóf Baráti, Barnabás Kelemen, Katalin Kokas, Zoltán Fejérvári, Ernő Kállai, László Fenyő, Miklós Perényi, Vilmos Szabadi, Dezső Ránki, János Rolla, Gábor Takács-Nagy, István Várdai, Tamás Vásáry, and Andrea Vigh. Among its international guest artists, the orchestra has had the honor of hosting Raúl da Costa, David Grimal, Sir James Galway, Massimo Mercelli, Sergey Nakaryakov, Gustav Rivinius, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Sebastian Bohren, Kirill Troussov, and Maxim Rysanov.
Recordings
Since 2015, the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra has been releasing its albums under the Hungaroton label, with its performances also recorded by NAXOS and Ongaku Records.
Among its recordings, the orchestra’s serenade series stands out, featuring works by Dohnányi, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Schubert, and others. Their most recent recording was released in 2024.
- 2015: Mozart – Divertimenti, Hungaroton
- 2019: Existentia – Karosi Bálint’s Orchestral Works, Hungaroton
- 2019: String Serenades, Volume 1: Dohnányi & Tchaikovsky, Hungaroton
- 2020: String Serenades, Volume 2: Josef Suk & Antonín Dvořák, Hungaroton
- 2020: Cohler Plays and Conducts Mozart, Ongaku Records
- 2021: String Serenades, Volume 3: Herbert, Elgar, Fuchs, Schubert, Hungaroton
- 2022: String Serenades, Volume 4: Reinecke, Wolf, Karlowicz, Kalinnikov, Hungaroton
- 2023: Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra, Naxos
- 2024: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Hungaroton
Soma Balázs-Piri
Soma Balázs-Piri, 20, first sat down at the piano eleven years ago and since then has won first prizes in sixteen international and national piano competitions.
In 2018, he was the winner of the Hungarian classical music television competition called „Virtuózok.”
Soma is Hungary’s Classical Music Ambassador and was awarded the Junior Príma Prize in 2021.
He first played as a soloist with the Szeged Symphony Orchestra at the age of nine and since then he had the opportunity to work with orchestras in Hungary and abroad on numerous occasions, conducted by Maestro Placido Domingo, Ádám Medveczky, Gábor Hollerung, Eugene Kohn, Howard Shelley, András Keller and the music director of the St. Gellért Festival, Yoon Kuk Lee, just to mention some of them.
He is a regular performer at major concert venues in Hungary, including the Palace of Arts, the Vigadó and the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy. He is playing at the Szent Gellért Festival for the third time.
In the recent years, Soma has performed abroad as well, for example in New York and in London as a soloist with the world-famous London Mozart Players at the O2 Arena with Hauser. He played in Doha, Strasbourg andin Dubai on the main stage of the EXPO. He visited Washington and Düsselford, moreover he was a guest at Anrea Bocelli’s villa in Forte dei Marmi.
In 2020, he recorded Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor with the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra conducted by Placido Domingo.
In 2023, he was the subject of a major Forbes interview.
He is currently a second year student at the Mozarteum University of Music in Salzburg, where his teacher is the renowned Canadian pianist Connie Shih. His teachers agree that his greatest strength is his exceptional musicality, combined with a humble and natural personality.
Mihály Boros
Mihály Boros was born on the 11th of April 2003 in Pécs, Hungary. Both of his parents are university professors. Ever since he turned five, he spent most of his free time playing the piano. From the very first moment he experimented with his own melodies, which he always played in different ways. At the age of six, he began attending the Liszt Ferenc High School of Music in Pécs to master his piano skills, then became a student of the Secondary School of Arts, his teacher was Ildikó Megyimóreczné Schmidt. Since 2017 Gergely Bogányi has been his mentor. He graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with a bachelor’s degree from Professor Antti Siirala in 2024. In the same year he continues his studies with András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin, where he will obtain his Master’s degree.
From the age of 8 Misi has won every national competition within his age group, and he won numerous international competitions in Rome, Milan and Paris as well. In 2014 he was the age group winner of Virtuosos Classical Music Talent Show.
He has given more than 200 concerts all around the world, only in 2015 he had 82 performances.
At the age of 12 he made his debut in the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy of Music where he performed with the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra. In the same year he performed at Tonhalle in Zürich, and a year later gave a solo concert at the Palace of Arts with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2017 he held a concert, organized by Virtuosos at the Palace of Arts, Budapest, together with Gergely Bogányi.
A year later, for the request of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, he played Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor at Zoltán Kocsis’ Memorial. Despite his young age, he has already performed all around the world including London, New York, Milan, Paris, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Brussels, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Osaka, and Beijing. He has participated in some of the world’s most prestigious festivals, most notably the Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland in 2022 and 2024, where he was awarded the Tabor Foundation Award for piano in 2022. He has released six solo albums: including his disc Inspiration on the Hungaroton label, which received praise from International Piano Magazine and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In 2015 he was given the City of Pécs Talent of Pécs – Márk Tamás Prize. In 2016 he won the Junior Prima Award, in 2019 he received the Certificate of Merit, Hungarian Ministry of Education Budapest.
Julianna Cseh
Julianna Cseh was born on 4 February 2007 and at the age of 18 she is now studying piano in Budapest. Due to her parents, she grew up on classical music from infancy and started to learn the keys in kindergarten with Dr. Istvánné Enikő Szűts. His attachment to music deepened already there, and in the first grade he already knew that he wanted to be a pianist.
He learned the basics of the technique at the Péter Király König Music School, where Edina Szirmainé-Szimon was his teacher from 2013 to 2019. Her first competition was in Óbecsé in 2014, where she won first prize at the age of 7. Other achievements: first prize in the four-hands category at the 7th International Piano Competition in Topolya in 2015.
In 2017: 1st prize at the György Orbán National Piano Competition in Budapest. 2018: 2nd Prize and Special Prize at the XI National Four-Hand Competition in Balassagyarmat. 2019-2021: He was a teacher of Emőke Sóti-Szobonya, also at the Péter Király König Music School. 2021: He played the opening movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C major (KV246) at the Szeged National Theatre with the Szeged Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sándor Gyüdi. This year he continued his studies at the Vántus István Music Secondary School in Szeged, also under the direction of Emőke Sóti-Szobonya.
In 2022 he participated in the master classes of Yuval Admony and Tami Kanazawa.In 2023 he studied with Marta Gulyás and Luis Fernando Pérez at the master class in Békéscsaba and with Gábor Eckhardt at the master class in Balassagyarmat. Also in 2023, he was awarded 1st prize at the Pianissimo International Piano Competition in Subotica, and then 1st prize in the chamber music category at the 7th International Moscow Music Competition (online), in the clarinet-violin-piano trio, with Mariann Kerényi as his teacher. From 2024, she will study at the LFZE Béla Bartók Music Secondary School in Budapest, where she will receive professional help from Aniko Gács and Balázs Kecskés.
Eszter Gyüdi
Eszter Gyüdi was born in Szeged in 1994 and graduated from the Tömörkény István High School with a focus on singing. She began playing the piano at the age of five, later studying folk singing with Tünde Ivánovics, and then classical singing with István Andrejcsik. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in opera singing from the Faculty of Music at the University of Szeged (now the Bartók Béla Faculty of Arts). While at university, she was both the composer and an actress for the independent theater company Homo Ludens Project. She composed music for puppet and youth performances presented in Szeged, Budapest, and Kecskemét. She won the Best Accompanying Music Award at the Xth Kaposvár International Children’s and Youth Biennale for her music for the performance Időfutár (Time Traveler) by the Szeged National Theatre.
At a young age, she performed in opera productions at the Szeged National Theatre and the Szeged Open-Air Theatre, including roles such as Papagena (Mozart: The Magic Flute), Poppea (Handel: Agrippina), Lili (Molnár László: Május), Cherubino (Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro), and Siebel (Gounod: Faust). She regularly performs as a soloist in contemporary and oratorio concerts and is a recurring performer at the Szent Gellért Festival and the Bonus Concerts organized by Filharmónia Hungary.
In 2017, she joined the Istvánffy Chamber Choir (Budapest), whose repertoire mainly consists of contemporary experimental works, Renaissance polyphonic pieces, and Baroque oratorio works. In 2021, their first album (Costanzo Porta: Missa Mortuorum) was released by the Budapest Music Center.
In 2020, Eszter was accepted into the Master’s program at the Zurich University of the Arts, under the tutelage of Yvonne Naef. In 2022, she continued her studies at the Swiss Opera Studio of the Bern University of the Arts. In June 2023, she performed Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations, a song cycle for soprano and string orchestra, at the Stadttheater Biel in Switzerland, conducted by Austrian conductor Christoph Campestrini with the Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn. In the autumn of 2023, she spent six months as a scholarship holder at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts, studying with Ulrike Sonntag.
In March 2024, she made her debut on the Swiss opera stage, performing as the second Amourette in Reinhard Kaiser’s Baroque opera Ulysses and as Sandrina in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera (a production of the Schweizer Opernstudio) at the Stadttheater Biel-Solothurn.
Kornélia Harmath
Kornélia HARMATH, who is only 11 years old, gained recognition from the general public at the age of 6 when she won the special prize at the Virtuosos V4+ classical music talent show in 2020. Since then, Kornélia has participated in numerous music competitions, in which she has consistently placed among the top three:
• In April 2021, she could step up onto the highest step of the podium at the 7th National Harp Competition.
• At the beginning of 2022, she returned home from the Felix Godefroid Harp Competition in Belgium with first place in the 8–12 age group.
• In December 2022, she won second place among more than 20 competitors in the category for harpists aged 14 and under at the prestigious 6th International Harp Competition in Szeged, Hungary.
• In January 2023, she won first place at the Karel Patras International Harp Competition in Prague, Czech Republic, and was also named the overall winner among lever harp players.
• In March 2023, at the international harp competition organized by the Slovenian Harpists Association, where she competed on a pedal harp for the first time in her life, the jury awarded her harp playing with an excellent rating and third place.
• She received an excellent rating and a special prize for her performance at the 4th Banatissimo String Instrument Competition held in Timișoara, Romania, in April 2023.
• In March 2024, Kornélia once again stood on the highest step of the podium among competitors in her age group at the National Harp Competition, that time organized for the eighth time.
• In November 2024, she won second place at the 25th anniversary edition of the international classical music competition called The Nutcracker. Kornélia is the first harpist in the history of the competition to achieve such an outstanding result at such a young age. The final took place in the Russian capital, in the 1,500-seat Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic. Kornélia naturally prepared for the final round with a piece by a Hungarian composer. At the sold-out event, she performed the third movement of Ferenc Farkas’ Concertino for harp and string orchestra, much to the delight of the audience.
• In November 2024, he won first place at the XIII. S. YA. Lemeshev International Singing Competition held in Moscow.
Kornélia’s former harp teacher, Natalia Gbunova, played a major role in her musical education for many years. Kornélia’s current teacher is Professor Svetlana Paramonova, Honoured Artist of Russia.
In addition to her competitive performances, Kornélia also enjoys performing in front of audiences. In 2021, she delighted audiences at the National Theatre in Szeged, while in 2022, she enchanted audiences with her music at the Hungarian Embassy in Tashkent at an event organized to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian-Kyrgyz diplomatic relations. In 2023, as part of the Csokimatiné (Chocolate Morning Session) instrumental presentation and music introduction series aimed at young people, he performed at the Korzó Music House in Szeged, then played at the Hudba Znojmo cultural and music festival in Znojmo, Czech Republic. In the same year, she had the opportunity to perform at the Budapest Demographic Summit and at the UNICEF Hungary charity gala dinner held at the National Museum, Budapest, playing in a duo for the first time in her life. The audience could listen to Marcel Tournier’s Autumn Walkway in a harp and violin performance. In 2024, Kornélia performed at the Korzó Music House in Szeged as part of the regular Csokimatiné instrumental presentation and music review, accompanied by the Szeged Symphony Orchestra, and at the end of the year she performed at the Alisher Navoi Grand Theatre in Tashkent at a concert entitled “Golden Branches of Hungarian-Uzbek Art,” organized by the Hungarian Embassy in Uzbekistan.
Her videos are available on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@korneliaharmath4930.
Kornélia is currently attending elementary school. Besides singing, her favourite subjects are art and math. In her free time, she plays the piano, chess, and with play dough, and plays with her siblings.
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Lilla Horti
Lilla HORTI, winner of the Junior Prima Award and Cziffra Talent Award, graduated with distinction from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest in 2017 as a student of Éva MARTON. She completed her studies in Hungary and Spain.
She made her debut also in a leading role at the Hungarian State Opera House already in 2017, where she has been performing season after season ever since. She is also very active as a concert singer, and audiences have heard her in countless song recitals, aria recitals, gala evenings, and oratorios as a soloist. She has been recognized with numerous awards and special prizes at competitions in Hungary and abroad. She is a busy concert singer and has performed as a soloist in countless song recitals, oratorios, and gala concerts.
Her very first opera role was in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 2013, where she played the First Lady, followed by Mimí in Puccini’s La Bohème, with which she made her debut in her first leading role on the stage of the Opera House in 2017, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Madame Silberklang in Mozart’s The Impresario, and Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, which was performed at the Szeged National Theatre, Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen, Antonia and Giulietta in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, Rosalinda in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, in which she made her debut at the National Theatre in Pécs and has since performed in several seasons at the Opera House and even in Mumbai, India, Szaffi in Strauss’s The Gypsy Baron, Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, in which she sang alongside Sir Willard White. From Wagner’s operas, she has played the goddess Freia and Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Gutrune and Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung, I. Flowermaiden in Parsifal, Senta in The Flying Dutchman, and she has also sung Mimì in Leoncavallo’s La bohème and Anna in Puccini’s Le Villi in the company of János BÁNDI and Mihály KÁLMÁNDY.
Under the conductorship of János KOVÁCS, she made her debut in 2024 as Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, partnering Mihály KÁLMÁNDY, and as Tosca in Puccini’s Tosca, alongside Anatolij Fokanov and István KOVÁCSHÁZI.
She also has a rich history in contemporary music. In terms of contemporary operas, she has staged leading roles such as Angelika in János VAJDA’s opera The Imaginary Invalid, which she premiered, and Ludovina in Julian Philips’ opera The Yellow Sofa, composed at the request of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, which she premiered in Hungary. She also played the role of the director in Máté BELLA’s opera “A tavasz ébredése” (The Awakening of Spring) and the female lead in the 2017 Bartók Plus Opera Festival’s winning opera, Szabolcs MÁTYÁSSY’s Scaevola, in which she played the role of Mirela. In the summer of 2021, she sang the title role in Sándor SZOKOLAY’s mystery opera “Margit, a hazának szentelt áldozat” (Margit, a Sacrifice to the Homeland) at the Open-Air Theatre on Margaret Island, Budapest.
She has been a regular performer for many years at the Wagner Days Festival, at MÜPA in Budapest, led by Ádám FISCHER, alongside leading Wagner singers of our time. She has returned many times as an artist of the international chamber music Festival Academy Budapest, led by Katalin KOKAS and Barnabás KELEMEN, and has performed at the Budapest Spring Festival, at “klassz a pART”, the János BALÁZS Cziffra Festival, and the “Zenergia” concert organized in collaboration with MVM, which won first place at the prestigious 2020 Eventex Awards international professional competition.
The Hungarian audience has been able to hear her on the major stages and in the concert halls of Budapest, but she also sang in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Slovakia, Serbia, India, Romania, Sweden, and China.
Mariann Kerényi
Mariann KERÉNYI graduated in 2002 with a degree in piano performance and teaching from the Faculty of Music at the University of Szeged, Hungary, then in 2005 she graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest with a degree in piano accompaniment.
She earned her DLA (Doctor of Liberal Arts) degree from the Doctoral School of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 2020. In 2003 and 2018, she received the Szeged County Art Scholarship, and in 2012, she was awarded the Artisjus Prize.
In 2023 and 2024, she received the Rector’s Award for Public Education.
She has repeatedly served as a répétiteuse at the closing concerts of the Armel Opera Festival, in opera productions at the Szeged Open Air Festival, at opera auditions, and at international competitions (József Simándy Singing Competition, Musicum Laude Singing Competition).
She regularly performs at cultural events, both solo and with instrumentalists and vocalists (István Vántus Contemporary Music Days, St. Gellért Festival, Hungarian Radio, International Piano Fest Subotica, Serbia, Festival junger Künstler Bayreuth, Germany, Liszt Institute of the Hungarian Cultural Centre in Brussels, Belgium).
She is currently a teacher at the István Vántus Music High School of the University of Szeged and an assistant professor in the vocal department of the Béla Bartók Faculty of Arts at the University of Szeged.
Maxim Rysanov
Grammy-nominated Ukrainian-British violist and conductor, and Principal Guest Conductor of I Musici de Montréal, Maxim Rysanov has an established reputation as one of the world’s most vibrant and charismatic musicians. Both as a conductor and a violist, he frequently visits prominent orchestras – often in programmes where he both plays and conducts.
Maxim’s 2024/25 season begins with a return to Wigmore Hall in October in a programme of Schumann and Brahms playing together with pianist Dasol Kim as part of the BBC lunchtime series. Later in the month, he will debut directing the Budapest Strings before taking up a reinvitation to conduct the Danubia Orchestra in a programme of Vivaldi, Saariaho, and Rachmaninov. During the season, he debuts as a conductor with Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra in all-Mozart programme, with I Solisti di Pavia in Italy, the Blue Danube Orchestra in Novi Sad and also with MAV Orchestra Hungary later in the year.
He begins 2025 performing as a soloist with Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc and in February he will direct a tour with the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra, which includes Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola alongside Alexander Sitkovetsky.
Through much of the first half of 2025, he will appear throughout Europe and also New York as part of the Evgeny Kissin Shostakovich Project. This initiative also involves Gidon Kremer and Gautier Capuçon. The three Shostakovich sonatas – one each for violin, viola and cello – will be performed together in one concert with Kissin in Lucerne, Eindhoven, Munich, Vienna, Luxembourg, Paris, Toulouse, London, New York, and Ruhr. Maxim is also undertake a tour through China.
The 2023/24 season saw a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Europe, and with The Hallé in the UK. As a soloist he also debuted with the Izmir State Orchestra Turkey and returned to the Riga Sinfonietta Latvia. As a conductor, he returned to I Musici de Montréal, the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and the Concerto Budapest. He debuted on the conductor’s podium with the Hungarian National Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, the Novi Sad Chamber Orchestra and the St George’s Strings Belgrade. He has also sat on various competition juries this year including the Liszt Academy Bartók Competition and the Hubay Jeno Violin Competition.
Maxim’s passion for new music has led to world premières by Dobrinka Tabakova, Pēteris Vasks, Richard Dubugnon, and Valentin Bibik. He debuted as a conductor with the world première of Gabriel Prokofiev’s viola concerto with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, co-commissioned with the Symphony Orchestra of Milan. Maxim has collaborated closely with composers including Benjamin Yusupov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Giya Kancheli, Artem Vassiliev, and Elena Langer.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest the Hague, Seattle Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Moscow Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Brno Philharmonic, CSO Presidential Orchestra in Ankara, and Real Orquesta Sinfónica Sevilla.
As a conductor, Maxim has appeared with the Svetlanov State Symphony Orchestra, the Milan Symphony Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Tatarstan State Symphony Orchestra, Spanish Radio Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Dala Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, Southbank Sinfonia, Riga Sinfonietta, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Detmold Chamber Orchestra, Kiev Soloists, Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Chaarts, Budapest Festival Academy Orchestra, and Classic FM Orchestra.
A past winner of Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award and the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Award, Maxim is also a prize-winner at the Geneva, Lionel Tertis and Valentino Bucchi competitions.
Maxim’s recent highlights include performing debuts with Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and a performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko at the Ljubliana Festival, and conducting the Milan Symphony Orchestra, and Croatian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Pannon Philharmonic in Budapest. He also toured Europe with the Yehudi Menuhin Orchestra where he conducted, recorded and performed. Other studio recordings include collaborations with the Hallé Orchestra, and the release of the Tabakova Viola Concerto original version in 2023. Invitations to festivals have included Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Carl Nielsen Festival, OModernt Stockholm, Moritzburg Festival, Lundsgaard Festival and Westport Festival.
A keen chamber musician, Maxim has partnered in chamber music projects with Maxim Vengerov, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Nicola Benedetti, Vadim Repin, Augustin Dumay, Viktoria Mullova, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Sol Gabetta, Leif Ove Andsnes, Denis Matsuev, Alessio Bax, Michael Collins, Martin Fröst, Alice Coote, Freddy Kempf and Yeol Eum Son, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky and Dora Kokas, among others. He has toured Ireland with chamber partners Nikita Boriso Glebsky and Dora Kokas.
Maxim is an Associate Artist at the Yehudi Menuhin School, and he makes several annual visits to the school to conduct, perform, and give masterclasses. Last season, he undertook a European tour and went into the recording studio with the YMS Orchestra. He also has an ongoing relationship with the Royal College of Music and gives masterclasses in other establishments including the RNCM, Hochschule für Musik Berlin, and the Chopin University.
His recordings have gained numerous award nominations including Gramophone Editor’s Choice, ECHO and ICMA. Maxim featured as both soloist and conductor on the debut recording of composer Dobrinka Tabakova (ECM) in 2013, which reached number 2 in the UK classical charts and was shortlisted for a Grammy Award. His album In Schubert’s company was selected as Gramophone Critic’s Choice of the Year. Also released to great critical acclaim, was the BIS recording Voices with Riga Sinfonietta featuring the music of Pēteris Vasks, on which Maxim conducts Vasks’ Symphony No. 1 and performs the viola concerto written for and dedicated to him. October 2024 will see the release of his latest disc on the Onyx label, a collection of Schumann viola works in which he is joined by Julian Bliss and
Maxim plays a 1780 Giuseppe Guadagnini viola known as ‘Il Soldato’ on private loan arranged by Premiere Performances Hong Kong.
Fanni Molnár
I started playing the recorder at the age of six at the Péter Király-König Elementary School of Music, under the guidance of Éva POLJÁK. In my first year, I won first place in the Regional Recorder Competition, the following year I won second prize in the IX. National László Czidra Recorder Competition and second prize in the VIII. Hatvani National Music School Baroque Festival.
In addition, I started learning the clarinet at the age of 9. I won first prizes in county competitions, first prize (gold prize) in the International FEMUS Classical Competition, a special prize in the National Clarinet Competition, and first place in the I. Budakeszi National Recorder Competition. At the age of 13, I received a Rotary Award, and then I won third prize at the V. Danubia Talents International Online Music Competition.
In 2021, I was successfully admitted to the Ferenc Gál University István Vántus Music High School, in clarinet department. In 2022, I won the prestigious 2nd prize at the National Clarinet Competition for high school music students. In 2023, we won first place at the X. National Orchestra Competition. In 2024, I won first place at the International Festival and Competition in Backa Topola, Serbia, and received a special award at the 5th National Tibor Dittrich Age Group Clarinet Competition.
In addition to music competitions, I had the opportunity to perform on recorder as a soloist accompanied by the Szeged Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10, and at the age of 14 as a clarinettist at the Szeged National Theatre, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.
We regularly performed with the choir and wind orchestra at numerous city and other events, and I am looking for further opportunities for my professional development. I am currently preparing for the entrance examination for the clarinet department at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.
Csillag Róza Nagy
SCHOOL
Ferenc Gál University István Vántus Demonstration Secondary School of Music
From September 2021
TEACHER
Zoltán BENEDEKFI violinist, composer
AS SOLOIST,
21 to 30 July 2024 – Master Class of Ádám BANDA, Balassagyarmat, Hungary
19 June 2024 – Rotary Award
9 June 2024 – “Small hands – Great masters” Mozart: Violin Concerto in A major, Movement III, performed with accompaniment by the Szeged Symphony Orchestra
18 May 2024 – Day of Szeged City, Performance of the Bendekfi brothers’ piece entitled Flames, accompanied by the Szeged Symphony Orchestra
10 to 12 May 2024 – 16th Stringfest International Violin Competition, Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, First Place
16 March 2024 – 16th International Violin Competition, Backa Topola, Serbia, First Place
17 to 19 November 2023 – II. Jenő Hubay International Violin Competition, Budapest, Duo of Bartók with Katalin Kokas
21 to 30 July 2023 – Master Class of Eszter PERÉNYI, Balassagyarmat, Hungary
17 June 2023 – Hungarian Violin Festival, Vigadó of Budapest: Bruch: Violin Concerto in g minor, Movement I
29 June 2023 – XV. Internation Julius von Beliczay Violin Competition, Komárno, Slovakia, First Place and Special Award for “Best Presentation”
25 to 28 May 2023 – 15th International Violin Competition, Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, Second Place
14 May 2023 – “Small hands – Great masters” Bruch: Violin Concerto in g minor, Movement I, accompanied by the Szeged Symphony Orchestra
3 to 4 December 2022 – National Violin Competition, Győr, Hungary, Finalist
ORCHESTRA REQUESTS
17 March 2024 – “Fly, free bird” concert show in Arena, Veszprém, Hungary
July 2022 – LMC Orchestra Luzern Lake: NY, USA
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA RESULTS
1 March 2023 – 7th International Music Competition of Moscow, Russia (MMC) online, Violin-clarinet-piano trio, First Place
Kincső Palotás
In 2014, I began my music studies in Hódmezővásárhely at the Péczely Attila Elementary School of Arts, studying piano with teacher Angéla TARR. During my studies,
I gained valuable experience performing at various school and city events as a young student. Until eighth grade, music was just a hobby, I imagined myself becoming a dentist. That time however I realized that music was the certainty of my life, and that I didn’t want to continue my studies without it.
In less than three months, I managed to prepare for the entrance examination and became a student at the Gál Ferenc University Vántus István Music High School in Szeged, majoring in solo singing.
During my high school years, performances and competitions became more frequent in my life. Since then, I have participated in several competitions with outstanding results, including the national singing competition and the competition in Timișoara, Romania. I am a regular performer at city events, such as the celebration held on World Music Day or the concert held as part of Marriage Week.
My current plan is to continue my studies at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.
Sasha Grynyuk
Sasha Grynyuk was described by legendary Charles Rosen as “an impressive artist with remarkable, unfailing musicality always moving with the most natural, electrifying, and satisfying interpretations”.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sasha is a winner of over ten international competitions and awards. His early successes include First Prizes at the Grieg International Piano Competition in Norway and the BNDES International Piano Competition in Brazil, as well as the Gold Medal – Guildhall School of Music’s most prestigious award. Sasha was dubbed as a ‘Rising Star’ by the BBC Music Magazine and International Piano Magazine.
Sasha has performed around the world in major venues including Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Salle Cortot, Wiener Konzerthaus, Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Teatro Real in Rio de Janeiro. Among Sasha’s ongoing projects are performances of Shostakovich’s restored original piano score for the 1929 silent film The New Babylon, that premiered at LSO St. Luke’s London, and later performed at the Rosendal Festival, Norway. His recording of music by Gould and Gulda for Piano Classics became the Record of the Month of the German magazine Piano News and shortlisted by the New York Classical Radio.
Sasha started his music studies at the Lysenko Special Music School and the National Music Academy of Ukraine and was subsequently awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Sasha has benefitted from the guidance of Alfred Brendel and Murray Perahia, and particularly Noretta Conci-Leech, a pupil and teaching assistant of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, to whom Sasha feels most indebted for his love and understanding of music.
Sasha is an Ambassador of the London Music Fund established by the Mayor of London in support of talented children from London’s under-served communities.
So-Ock Kim
Born in Seoul, So-Ock Kim moved to London at the age of three. At 15, she was the youngest ever winner of the gold medal in the prestigious Shell/LSO Competition playing the Tchaikovsky concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra in the Barbican Hall. At 19, So-Ock was selected for the Young Concert Artists Trust as a soloist and member of the Emperor piano trio.
So-Ock has given numerous critically acclaimed performances around the world and at the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Hall in London. Abroad she has comprehensively toured throughout Asia, Europe and the US, performing concertos and recitals in the various international music festivals, such as Schleswig Holstein, Beethoven Festival, Ravinia, Mecklenburg, BBC Proms, Radio France Festival, Herrenchimsee, Seoul Spring, Hong Kong Chamber, Casals and Aldeburgh. Many of her performances have been broadcast on radio and television worldwide, including the BBC, ABC, Radio France, RAI, KBS, Polish Radio and Classic FM.
So-Ock has made numerous acclaimed international performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Sofia Philharmonic, Orchestre Nationale de Montpellier, KBS Symphony, Torino Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Mexico State, and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestras. She has performed as a soloist with conductors Kent Nagano, Edward Gardner, Alain Altinoglu, Krzystof Penderecki and the Polish Radio Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Vassily Petrenko, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Suwon Philharmonic, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Westdeutsche Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra.
So-Ock has a keen interest in the performance of new works and has given several World Premieres that have been recorded for Universal (France and Korea) and Naxos. She is also an active chamber musician and Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London, as well as Artistic coordinator of the Beare’s International Violin Society. Her students are major prizewinners of international competitions, concertmasters and members of orchestras and chamber musicians.
‘…remarkable violinist So-Ock Kim, performed with breathtaking virtuosity…she shaped a powerful performance….magic’ The Times
‘So-Ock Kim….outstanding.What was so remarkable about Kim’s playing was not only her technical mastery, but also the tenderness and warmth she found…there was an unmistakable sense of a personal, emotional involvement with the music, revealing astonishing musical maturity’. The Guardian
‘…So-Ock presented flawless playing with beautiful intonation and bowing…Without a doubt her performance..was absolutely awesome – sheer technical brilliance in tandem with power and insight’. The Strad, Wigmore Hall
‘ a performance of mesmerising intensity’. The Strad
‘So-Ock Kim has all these qualities in abundance; this recital was one of the most remarkable in recent memory… displayed remarkable stylistic versatility. ..in perfect command of fingers and bow, flawless in intonation, pure and beautiful in sound.’ New York Concert Review, Carnegie Weill Hall
Ildikó Szabady
Ildikó Szabady, a Junior Prima Award-winning flutist, graduated in 2020 from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, under the guidance of Dr. Veronika Oross. Despite her young age, she has achieved outstanding results in numerous prestigious domestic and international competitions. Among her accomplishments, she won first prize at the XVI. Chieri International Music Competition (2016) and earned several prizes at renowned competitions, such as the World Flute E-Competition “Napolinova” in 2021 (3rd prize), the Danubia Talents International Competition in 2021 (2nd prize), the International Moscow Music Competition in 2021 (2nd prize), the International Music Competition Malopolska in 2021 (2nd prize), and the Medici International Competition in 2022 (2nd prize). Her artistic work has been recognized with prestigious scholarships, including the Republic Scholarship (2018), the Bank of China Scholarship (2019), and the Junior Prima Award (2024). She won auditions three times for the Encuentro de Santander Festival in Spain (2018, 2019, 2021), where she participated in several concerts under the direction of renowned foreign artists. As a soloist, she has performed with distinguished orchestras such as the Savaria Symphony Orchestra, the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Szolnok Symphony Orchestra, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Academy of Music. She has appeared as a soloist under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Oliver von Dohnányi, Masahiro Izaki, Antal Mátyás, and Gilbert Varga. She has performed in Spain, Krakow, Chieri, and Israel, presenting both chamber and solo works. Since 2022, she has been the principal flutist of the Piedra Orchestra at the St. Margarethen Opera Festival (Austria). She has played in prestigious concert halls with orchestras, such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Konzerthaus in Klagenfurt, the Brucknerhaus in Linz, the Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, the Schönbrunn Palace, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Throughout her artistic career, she has placed a special emphasis on contemporary music and actively seeks new musical opportunities. She regularly works on studio recordings, capturing the works of renowned Hungarian and international composers. She is a frequent guest artist with several Hungarian orchestras and served as the principal flutist of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra in 2022–2023. During her orchestral engagements, she has collaborated with conductors such as Péter Eötvös, Péter Csaba, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Pinchas Steinberg, and Leonard Slatkin. Currently, she is the principal flutist of the Budapest Scoring Studio Orchestra, the solo flutist of the Szolnok Symphony Orchestra, and a student at the Doctoral School of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.
Szeged Symphony Orchestra
The history of the Szeged City Orchestra dates back to the 18th century. At the end of the 1700s, opera performances were already being held in Szeged, performed by traveling German companies on stage, with accompaniment of local orchestras. As a symphony orchestra in the modern sense, it has been operating since the end of the 19th century, with some interruptions, under various organizational structures and names. The Szeged Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1919 under the leadership of Sándor Figedy-Fichtner. From 1934 to 1944, the young Ferenc Fricsay was at the helm of the ensemble. During these years, such greats as Willem Mengelberg, Erich Kleiber, and Pietro Mascagni, who conducted his opera, appeared on the conductor’s podium.
The legendary conductor and composer Viktor Vaszy organized the ensemble into an independent institution under the present name of Szeged Symphony Orchestra, in 1969, which is the basis of the local concert life and a regular performer on international stages too. The orchestra forms the basis for opera performances at the country’s second largest opera company, the Szeged National Theatre. Taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new organizational framework, the orchestra has developed into a significant concert orchestra in addition to performing opera tasks at a high level.
Beyond its principal conductors – Viktor Vaszy, Géza Oberfrank, Tamás Pál, Ervin Acél, Sándor Gyüdi, Ervin Lukács, János Fürst, Günther Neuhold, Gergely Dubóczky – the orchestra’s podium has always been graced by distinguished guest conductors (Lamberto Gardelli, Carlo Zecchi, Roberto Benzi, Karl Richter, Libor Pešek, Dimitrij Kitajenko, Renato Palumbo, János Ferencsik, András Kórodi, Miklós Erdélyi, Tamás Vásáry, Ádám Medveczky, János Kovács, András Ligeti, Zoltán Kocsis etc.), while the international elite and the cream of Hungarian artists were regularly invited as soloists. As institutional leaders, Gábor Baross and Győző Lukácsházi also supported the artistic work. The ensemble has toured almost all of Europe and has also performed to great acclaim in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Brazil. Its recordings have been released by Hungaroton as well as Italian, Spanish, German, Austrian, Danish, Belgian, English, and American companies.
Yongbom Kwon
Countertenor Yongboem Kwon graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts.
He has performed at renowned venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Berliner Dom, Dresden Frauenkirche, and the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. His repertoire spans early music, oratorio, opera, art song, and contemporary works.
He appears regularly in performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in the Netherlands and has sung the St. John Passion in France. He has worked with leading ensembles including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra.
In 2025, he received both the 3rd Prize and the Audience Prize at the Farinelli Competition for Countertenors. Praised for his expressive tone and artistic sensitivity, he performs internationally with distinguished conductors and ensembles.
Mónika Tóth
Born in 1974 in Heves. Between 1981-1988 she was a student of the local State Music School, where she studied with Tivadarné Szabó.
She graduated with honours as a violin teacher and chamber musician from the Szeged Conservatory of the Liszt Academy of Music in 1997. Márta S.Dobos, Péter Masopust, Lajos Huszár and László Meszlényi were her mentors.
In 1999, she was awarded scholarships from the Soros Foundation and the Marco Fodella Foundation and studied early music specialisation at the Accademia Internazionale della Musica in Milan under Enrico Gatti.
She received her Master’s degree in Baroque Violin “cum laude” in 2007 at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory in Palermo, as a student of Enrico Onofri. (Il Giardino Armonico)
Parallel to her studies, she attended master classes with Simon Standage, Lucy van Dael, Jaap Schrőder and Malcom Bilson.
In 2000 she was awarded second prize at the “Premio Bonporti Rovereto” international chamber music competition (Estro Cromatico) and in 2001 she was third prize winner at the “I.Telemann Wettbewerb” in Magdeburg (Eclisse).
Between 2000 and 2006 she was a member and second concertmaster of the Orfeo Orchestra under the baton of György Vashegyi. In 2005, she was concertmaster at the opening of the MÜPA Festival Theatre, where she performed Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo, directed by Csaba Káel.
She performs regularly with renowned European baroque orchestras and chamber music ensembles such as I Barocchisti, Ensemble Zefiro, Imaginarium Ensemble, Stella Matutina, Ensemble Castor, Accademia Bizantina, Il Giardino Armonico, Dolce e Tempesta, Europa Galante, Capella Leopoldina Graz, Barucco Wien, Neue Hofkapelle Graz, Accentus Austria, L’Eclisse, Musica Perduta.
As a chamber music artist and concertmaster she has participated in festivals such as Regensburg, Trigonale,Berlin,Stockholm,Barcelona, Leipzig, Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Mantova, Milan, Crete, Mexico City, Jerusalem and Festival Academy Budapest.
He has recorded 50 CDs with Decca, EMI, Sony, Archiv, Naiv, Arts, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Chandos, Hungaroton, Symphonia,Taktus, Amadeus, RTSI, Brilliant Classics, Erato, Querstand, Panclassics, Passacalia, Arcana, Preiser Records and Virgin.
She has collaborated with vocal soloists such as Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky, Julia Lezhneva, Max Cencic, Silvia Frigaro, Gemma Bertagnoli, Roberta Mameli, Franco Fagioli; conductors and instrumental soloists such as Gustav Leonhardt, Diego Fasolis, Anderas Staier, Alfredo Bernardini, Malcolm Bilson, Enrico Onofri, Giovanni Antonini, Bahrt Kujiken, Gabriele Cassone, Elisa Citterio.
Between 2005 and 2010, she was a teacher of baroque violin at summer schools of early music in Tokaj, Bélapátfalva and Agárd in Hungary, and in 2011 she founded the Miszla Academy of Early Baroque Music (Tolna County). Since then, she has been organizing international master classes twice a year at Nemeskéry Castle.
Since 2012, she has been mentor of the youth baroque orchestra “I Talenti Vulcanici”, founded by the “Capella della Pietá de’ Turchini” Early Music Centre in Naples.
Since the 2018/19 academic year, she has been teaching baroque violin at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. In October 2019 she received the Wagner Betty Award in Heves.
Yoon Kuk Lee
Born and raised in South Korea, Yoon Kuk Lee received his earliest musical training from his mother. At the age of 13, he immigrated with his family to America, where he graduated from a special science and math high school in New York and enrolled at Williams College.
In 1976, he graduated with the honor title “Cum Laude” in philosophy and music then traveled to Austria, to study conducting and composition at the Salzburg Mozarteum University of Music with teachers such as Sandor Vegh, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Herbert von Karajan.
One of Lee’s early successes as a composer came in the form of winning the highest prize at the 1982 Austria Radio (ORF) competition, which led to public concerts and radio broadcasts of his music. A couple of years later, Lee accepted a teaching position at the Mozarteum University of Music. Since 1987, he has been making guest conducting appearances with the St. Petersburg Camerata, the KBS Symphony Orchestra of Korea, the Seoul Philharmonic, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of Saloniki, South Czech Philharmonie Budweis, the Korean Chamber Orchestra, the Enesco Philharmonic Bucharest, Korean Philharmonic Orchestra, Szeged Symphony Orchestra of Hungary, Jyväskylä Sinfonia of Finland and Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra etc.
Starting 2000, he served as the artistic director of the Austro-Korean Philharmonie Vienna which he founded together UN General Secretary Ban-Ki Moon and between 2002 and 2005, he was the conductor of the Festival International Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra.
In 1992, he accepted the assignment of establishing the Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie, gathering young professional musicians to introduce a new chamber orchestra to the European music scene. Since then, the orchestra presented under his artistic direction highly creative subscription concert series in its home city Salzburg and toured extensively all over the European continent; literally from Sevilla to Cyprus, winning critical acclaim everywhere and enjoying exuberant reception in major concert halls such as Musikverein of Vienna ( in which all seven performances of Kammerphilharmonie so far were met with 2000 excited listeners), Konzerthaus of Vienna, Gasteig and Herkulesaal of Munich, Tonhalle of Zürich, National Philharmonie of Madrid to mention a few.
Also under his leadership, the Kammerphilhatrmonie performed successfully at renowned festivals such as “Carinthischen Sommer” festival, Festival International Cognac and Festival International Echternach (Luxembourg) and Salzburg Festival. The orchestra also appeared on several live radio and television broadcasts of Austrian National Network(ORF).
Between 1996 and 1999 he took on – together the pianist Cyprien Katsaris -the project of performing and recording complete works for piano and orchestra by Mozart (not only the piano concertos), introducing to the world for the first time in recording history an edition of such kind. It resulted in the production of 15 CDs which are being released in European market under the label Piano 21. His highly acclaimed release of C.P.E Bach Sinfonias with Naxos brought worldwide recognition. Such as being chosen as one of the 10 best CDs by the CD magazine “Gramaphone” and from WQXR FM of New York.
Numerous well-known soloists have shared the stage with Lee, including: Mischa Maisky, Edith Mathis, Grace Bumbry, Pierre Amoyal, Irena Grafenauer, Guy Touvron, Sergei Nakajarkov, Cyprien Katsaris, Ingrid Haebler, Wolfgang Schulz, Michel Dalberto, Paul Badura-Skoda and Radovan Vlatkovic, Ruth Ziesak, to name a few.
Ziyu He
The outstanding violinist Ziyu He was one of the youngest soloists with the Vienna Philharmonic when he gave his debut with this world-class orchestra under Adam Fischer at the Musikverein in 2017 aged 17.
The year before, he won the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition, and in 2014 he was the Eurovision Young Musician of the Year. He has performed among others with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven Philharmonic, RAI National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, National Performing Arts Center Orchestra, Georgian Philharmonic, Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra della Toscana, Zagreb Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Recent highlights include recordings of works by Hans Werner Henze with the Mozarteum Orchestra, the Beethoven Violin concerto, Stravinsky concerto and Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with Maestro Hans Graf, and solo recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
As the violinist of the renowned Altenberg Trio, he regularly plays in their popular concert series in the Brahms Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. Ziyu He began learning the violin at the age of five in his native China. At age 10 he was invited by Paul Roczek to study at the Salzburg Mozarteum University, completing his master’s degree in violin there in 2021, and a master’s degree with distinction in viola in February 2023. He plays the 1698 “ex Rouse-Boughton” violin by Antonio Stradivari on loan from the Austrian National Bank and a Giuseppe Guadagnini viola, dated 1797, thanks to generous private sponsors.