Pinchas Steinberg has overseen the development of several generations of musicians in a rapidly moving modern world that responds to quick impacts and strong stimuli. The following advice of his does not, however, go out only to musicians: let us not settle for solutions based on information and advanced technology; rather let us make an effort to communicate the depth of our feelings and ideas.

How can a young composer make a breakthrough in the contemporary international music scene? Where do applied composition and classical quality coincide? These questions were raised in an interview with the Erkel-prize winning composer and member of the Liszt Academy of Music academic staff, Máté Bella prior to his two forthcoming concert events.

The cellist Mr. Miklós Perényi holding Prima Primissima, Kossuth and Ferenc Liszt prizes has been awarded the title of professor emeritus by the senate of the Liszt Academy.

We interviewed the Kossuth Prizewinning violinist, János Rolla – concertmaster and artistic director of the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and former head of the Chamber Music Department at the Liszt Academy, who is still an active music educator – on talent, role models, perfect technical skills and the lack of hard work, humility and great figureheads.

Competition invitation is already accessible, and submission form can be downloaded from the website.

We kindly inform our audience that József Balog recital due to his illness has been cancelled. The concert will be given on 7 March 2018 at 19.00.

The President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Prof László Lovász has conferred upon the professor emerita of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Katalin Komlós the József Eötvös Wreath. She was awarded this prestigious accolade for her excellence in musicology, her exploration of the 18th century keyboard music and the research of its authentic interpretation on the keyboard instrument of the period, the fortepiano. Please read the interview below with the musicologist and fortepiano recitalist, Prof Katalin Komlós.

Joel Smirnoff is the former chair of the Violin Department of his highly acclaimed alma mater, the Juilliard School, the former president of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has been a member of the four-time Grammy winning Juilliard String Quartet. He considers music education and talent development his beloved vocation and special responsibility.

László Dobszay’s life and work are honoured with a series of presentations and concerts given by the great Széchenyi Prize-winning music historian, folk music researcher, choral conductor and academic’s colleagues, students and family-members. The Head of the Church Music Department of the Liszt Academy, Ágnes Dobszay talked about the symposium held on 3 February.

The globally recognised violinist Salvatore Accardo visited the Liszt Academy twice this year: most recently, this autumn, last as leader of the Quartetto Accardo, while some weeks earlier he was here as chair of the jury at the Bartók World Competition and Festival. As one the most celebrated violin virtuosos of our time – and someone considered to be the most authentic interpreter of Niccoló Paganini’s works – Maestro Accardo has been a professor of music for several decades. He holds the opinion that today’s young musicians are in a much more difficult position than their predecessors should they plan to pursue a career in music.