Zoltán Fejérvári, piano

Zoltán Fejérvári has emerged as one of the most intriguing pianists among the newest generation of Hungarian musicians. Winner of the 2017 Concours Musical International de Montréal and recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2016, Zoltán Fejérvári has appeared in recitals throughout the Americas and Europe, at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Canada’s Place des Arts, Gasteig in Munich, Lingotto in Turin, Palau de Música in Valencia, Biblioteca Nacional de Buenos Aires, and Liszt Academy in Budapest.  He has performed as a soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hungarian National Orchestra, Verbier Chamber Orchestra, and Concerto Budapest, and collaborated with such conductors as Iván Fischer, Gábor Tákács-Nagy, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, and Zoltán Kocsis. Fejérvári’s solo recording debut, Janáček, released in January 2019, earned rave reviews as “the most sensitive and deeply probative recording” of that composer’s work (Gramophone). His latest recording, Schumann, was released for the Atma Classique label in May 2020 and was again praised by Gramophone: "Fejérvári is a deeply communicative artist who combines an imperturbable yet magisterial command of his instrument with impeccable musicality. Those who have yet to hear him are in for a rare treat."

In addition to a return to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the 2021-2022 season brought Fejérvári’s orchestral debuts with the Czech Philharmonic in performances of Bartók’s Concerto No. 3, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Ivan Fischer in performances of Bartók’s Concerto No. 1. Additionally he appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall (London, UK), La Jolla Music Society (La Jolla, CA), Harvard Musical Association (Boston, MA), the Cosmos Club (Washington, DC), and Steinway Society of the Bay Area (San Jose, CA).

Highlights of the 2022-2023 season include a U.S. tour with Concerto Budapest, as well as performances at Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Impromptu Classical Concerts (Key West, FL), Capitol Region Classical (Schenectady, NY), Music for Galway in Ireland, Wigmore Hall and the Nicholas Yonge Society in the UK. He performs with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Markus Stenz.

Fejérvári’s notable orchestral collaborations include appearances with the Budapest Festival Orchestra; Chamber Orchestra of Europe; San Antonio Symphony with Kensho Watanabe; the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with Matthias Bamert; Concerto Budapest Orchestra with András Keller; Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc with Mátyás Antal; and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, as well as performances at the Liszt Academy, Warsaw Philharmonic, and KKL Lucerne.

Past seasons’ recital highlights have included Classical Spree, the festival of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; contemporary and Baroque concerti at Lucerne Festival at the request of Sir András Schiff, a longtime mentor to Fejérvári; Gilmore Keyboard Festival Rising Stars series; and Vancouver Recital Society in British Columbia. Schiff chose Fejérvári to participate in “Building Bridges,” a series established to highlight young pianists of unusual promise.  Under this aegis Fejérvári gave recitals during the 2017-2018 season in Berlin, Bochum, Brussels, Zurich, Ittingen, among other cities.

Fejérvári has performed chamber music with the Elias Quartet presented by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with Joshua Bell and Nicolas Alsteadt presented by the Liszt Academy, and with violinist Diana Tishchenko in Aix-en-Provence and La Chaux-de-Fonds. Fejérvári has also collaborated with the Keller and Kodály Quartets; violinists Joseph Lin and András Keller; cellists Gary Hoffman, Christoph Richter, Ivan Monighetti, Frans Helmerson, and Steven Isserlis; and horn player Radovan Vlatković. Fejérvári has appeared at Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World program; Prussia Cove’s Open Chamber Music; Lisztomania at Châteauroux, France; the Tiszadob Piano Festival in Hungary; Encuentro de Música in Santander, Spain; and the Brooklyn Chamber Music Festival. At the invitation of artistic director Mitsuko Uchida, he participated in the Marlboro Music Festival in the summers of 2014 and 2016. Fejérvári also toured throughout the United States with Musicians from Marlboro in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons.

Zoltán Fejérvári’s solo recording debut, Janáček, was released on the Piano Classics label in 2019. It features performances of On an Overgrown Path, In the Mists, and Piano Sonata 1.X.1905. In 2013 his recording of Liszt’s Malédiction with the Budapest Chamber Symphony, for Hungaroton, was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque.  The recording was followed by a CD of four Mozart sonatas with violinist Ernő Kállai, issued in 2014 on Hungaroton. Fejérvári was also featured on a 2020 Warner Classics release of sonatas by Ravel, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Prokofiev in collaboration with violinist Diana Tishchenko entitled Strangers in Paradise.

Fejérvári currently holds a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik FHNW, Musik Akademie Basel in Basel, Switzerland, where he teaches piano and chamber music classes.