I keep thinking about something that Zoltán Kocsis once said: "When you lose your sense of initiative, you're done for!"
After years of working in an orchestra, that's an important piece of advice!
"Serving" the clarinet brings a new task each day, but when it is done successfully, it rewards one with musical effects that no other instrument can produce!
It's important to believe that miracles exist!
"Dreams are memories arriving from the future." – R. M. Rilke
József Tönköly was born in 1965 and started to study clarinet at the Monor Music School under Imre Budai. When he was 13 years old, he gained admission to the Liszt Academy's preparatory programme taught by György Balassa. In 1988, he both earned his degree under Tibor Dittrich and successfully auditioned to join the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, which later became the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. He has served as the ensemble's principal clarinet since 1998. He has performed clarinet concertos by Jean Françaix and Sándor Veress, and gave György Selmeczi's work Religious Songs its Hungarian première.
