Attila Falvay, DLA, Kossuth Prize-winning violinist and Artist of Merit
Attila Falvay gained admission to the Liszt Academy at age 16, where he studied under Semyon Snitkovsky and graduated from the chamber music course taught by György Kurtág and András Mihály. He took second place at the Second Szigeti International Violin Competition in 1979 and first prize at the Hubay Competition the following year. In 1982, at the invitation of Dorothy Delay, he took part in a course and festival in Aspen, Colorado (USA). He also studied under Prof. József Sívó at Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts. He joined the Kodály Quartet in 1980. His work with the ensemble led to his being named an Artist of Merit in 1990 and receiving the Bartók–Pásztory Award in 1996. In addition to playing with the quartet, he also frequently performs as a soloist. He has performed with such famous conductors as Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Tamás Vásáry and Zoltán Kocsis. As a soloist, he has toured in Japan and various countries in Europe several times. From 1989 to 2005, he served as the principal concertmaster of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2005, he became the concertmaster of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Between 2006 and 2010 he taught violin and chamber music as a professor at the International Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA) in Blonay, Gstaad and Bern. He was appointed an adjunct professor in the Liszt Academy’s chamber music department in 2015. He is a member of the public body of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
On the occasion of Hungary’s national holiday on 15 March 2022, he was awarded the Kossuth Prize as a member of the Kodály String Quartet.