András Keller (born 1960) is a Hungarian

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and a founder of the Keller Quartet. He also works as a director and conductor of Concerto Budapest. At the age of 7, Keller began playing the instrument and seven years later was admitted to the Liszt Academy of Music, where his teachers were Dénes Kovács,

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography György ...

, and

Ferenc Rados Ferenc Rados (born 26 October 1934, in Budapest) is a Hungarian pianist and professor of piano and chamber music. Until 1996, he taught at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. After retiring, he gave master classes in Europe and ...

. Later, he was also studying from

Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century. Education Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, Tr ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

. In 1983, Keller won the Hubay Violin Competition, after which he received an invitation from

János Ferencsik János Ferencsik (18 January 190712 June 1984) was a Hungarian conductor. Ferencsik was born in Budapest; he actively played music even as a very young boy. He took violin lessons and taught himself to play the organ. He studied at the Nati ...

to become the National State Orchestra's leader. During the same time, he worked as a soloist for the National Philharmonia and from 1984 to 1991 was the

Budapest Festival Orchestra The Budapest Festival Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar'') was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as ''The Times'' put it. Its aim was to make ...

's leader. In 1987, he founded his own quartet and three years later became

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

's string competition winner. Throughout the years, he has performed with

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classic ...

Ralph Kirshbaum Ralph Henry Kirshbaum (born March 4, 1946) is an American cellist. During his career he has performed as soloist with major orchestras worldwide, won prizes in several international competitions, and recorded extensively. Early life and education ...

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holoc ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

, Kim Kashkashian, among many others. The recipient of the ''Premio Franco Abbiati'', Liszt Prize, and Bartók-Pásztory Prize, he was named an Artist of Merit of Hungary and was also nominated for the United Kingdom's Royal Philharmonic Society Award. His recordings have been awarded the ''Caecilia Prix'' (BE), ''Deutsche Schallplattenpreis'', Edison Award (NL), ''Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros'' (FR), MIDEM Classical Award (FR), Gramophon Award (UK) and Record Academy Award (JP). Keller has been performing György Kurtág's works worldwide and conducted the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto in 2013. During the same years, he also appeared with

Kremerata Baltica Kremerata Baltica is a chamber music, chamber orchestra consisting of musicians from Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). It was founded by Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer in 1997. Gidon Kremer is an artistic director of Kremerata Baltic ...

at the Lockenhaus Festival. In 2007, he was appointed as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Concerto Budapest, formerly known as the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra. Under his leadership, Concerto Budapest has earned a reputation as one of the most respected Hungarian touring orchestras, annually presenting over sixty concerts in Budapest, in addition to concerts and festival appearances in the most prestigious venues of Asia and Europe. He was the artistic director of the Arcus Temporum Festival between 2004 and 2009 and has been holding to this position again since 2016. András Keller is a regular guest professor of the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Between 2012 and 2015, he served as the head of the Chamber Music Department at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Since 2016, he has been teaching at the violin faculty of The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London where in 2018 he was appointed as Béla Bartók International Chair in recognition of his world-class performing career and services to music.

References

Living people 1960 births Hungarian directors Hungarian classical violinists Male classical violinists Hungarian male conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century Hungarian male musicians {{Violinist-stub