Szabolcs Szilágyi
Mr. Szabolcs Szilágyi was born to a family of artists. His father is an actor and his mother is a cultural manager, who works as an art gallery director.
He started studying music at the age of six in a specialised school. Singing in János Reményi’s choir was a defining experience for him. He made TV, radio and CD recordings with the choir, and, among several other prizes, they won not only the first prize in their category in 1985 at the Cork International Choral Festival in Ireland, but also the Grand Prix. Szabolcs Szilágyi started playing the flute at the age of nine. He graduated from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where he was a student of the late Tihamér Elek. He then went to London to continue postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music with Susan Milan. Meanwhile, invited by the maestro, he attended Sir James Galway’s international seminar in Weggis, Switzerland, on several occasions.
He was supported in his studies, among others, by the Soros Foundation, New York, USA, the Pro Helvetia Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland, the Royal College of Music, London, United Kingdom and the Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Szabolcs Szilágyi has been a member of Concerto Budapest – formerly Hungarian Symphony Orchestra – since 1995. The orchestra’s artistic director is András Keller, leader of the world-famous Keller String Quartet and violin professor at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, United Kingdom. Mr. Szilágyi played at the Frankfurt Chamber Opera in 1996/1997, and was a regular member of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Tamás Vásáry in season 2003/2004 and Ádám Fischer in season 2006/2007.
As an orchestral musician, he has worked with such distinguished artists as conductors Kobayashi Ken Ichiro, Thierry Fischer, Yuri Simonov, Krzysztof Penderecki, János Fürst, Gerhard Markson, Michael Halász and Zoltán Kocsis, and soloists Gidon Kremer, Sir James Galway, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Vadim Repin, Barbara Hendricks, Boris Berezovsky, Juliane Banse, Gilles Apap, Andrea Rost, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, László Polgár, Olga Kern, Jose Cura, Bobby McFerrin, Ildikó Komlósi and Branford Marsalis. He has toured in nearly all European countries, as well as Russia, China, Taiwan, South Korea, the Middle East and the USA. He has made TV, DVD and radio recordings, as well as CD recordings for Hungaroton, BMC, Teldec / Warner and Naxos.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Szabolcs Szilágyi has performed in Hungary, among others, in the Valley of Arts, Zsámbék Jazz Open — where the concert was broadcast live by Hungarian Radio — Merlin Theatre, Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts, the Hungarian National Museum and Concerto Budapest’s House of Music. Besides Concerto Budapest, he has also played with the Budapest Chamber Symphony and the Amadinda Percussion Group, with the latter’s performance recorded on CD. His chamber music partners have included pianist László Borbély, jazz pianist Áron Tálas and guitarist Krisztián Schweigert.
He premiered in Hungary the works of composers such as Lowell Liebermann, Mike Mower and David Heath.
In 2012 he had a solo concert at Weggis, Switzerland, at the Sir James Galway Flute Festival, where other distinguished guest artists included Denis Bouriakov, Andrea Griminelli, Philippe Bernold, Jim Walker, Raffaele Trevisani, Prof. Senqi He, Nicola Mazzanti, and Marlene Verwey.
He was invited to participate in August 2013 to play a recital and to take part as a member of the Jury of the Young Artist Competition at the Annual Convention of the National Flute Association in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States.
In 2014 Mr. Szilágyi was invited to play a recital and give a master class at the Musical Faculty of the School of Arts at the Renmin University of China in Beijing. In 2015 he was invited to play a recital at the Canada Flute Convention in Toronto, while in 2016 he returned to his mentor, Sir James Galway, in Weggis, and played a recital and gave a master class at the Galway Flute Festival as well.
As a highlight of the last season of Concerto Budapest, Mr. Szilágyi played with the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, celebrating Gidon Kremer’s 70th birthday with concerts in Budapest, Beijing, Xi’an, Seoul and Taipei. During his stay in Seoul Mr. Szilágyi gave a master class at the German School of Music Weimar at the Kangnam University in Yongin.
Mr. Szilágyi is the Founder and the Artistic Director of the Budapest Flute Academy.
