András Keller (born 1960) is a Hungarian

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

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 composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to ''Grove Music Online'', with a style that draws on " Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is c ...

, and

Ferenc Rados Ferenc Rados (26 October 1934 – 25 February 2025) was a Hungarian pianist who performed internationally as recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras. He was professor of piano and chamber music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Mus ...

. Later, he was also studying from

Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19127 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, ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. 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 Natio ...

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 described by ''The Times''. Its aim was t ...

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

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

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

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

, Ralph Kirshbaum,

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer (; 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 Holocaust. His mother had ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

, 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 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 Baltica. Descript ...

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 male classical violinists Hungarian male conductors (music) 21st-century Hungarian conductors (music) 21st-century Hungarian classical violinists 21st-century Hungarian male musicians {{Violinist-stub