Katalin Kokas (born 22 November 1978 in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

) is a Hungarian violinist and violist. Kokas has performed with orchestras including the

Israel Chamber Orchestra Israel Chamber Orchestra (abbreviation ICO, Hebrewהתזמורת הקאמרית הישראלית (''Hatizmoret hakamerit'') is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv-Yafo ...

Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra ('':hu:Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar, Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar'') is a chamber orchestra based in Budapest, Hungary. The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra took the name of the great composer, to pay homage to the ge ...

and

Taiwan Philharmonic The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO; ), also known as Taiwan Philharmonic () outside Taiwan, is one of the leading orchestras in Asia. Since 1987, the orchestra has its residence in the National Theater and Concert Hall (Taiwan) in Taipei, Taiwan ...

. She has studied at the Conservatory of Toronto and graduated with honors from the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. She married the 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 regu ...

ist Barnabás Kelemen, and now has four children: Hanna Kelemen(19), Gáspár Kelemen(14), Olga Kelemen(5), Zsigmond Kelemen(1)

Early life

Her father Ferenc Kokas, was the director of the Liszt Ferenc Music School of

Kaposvár Kaposvár (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in the southwestern part of Hungary, south of Lake Balaton. It is one of the leading cities of Transdanubia, the capital of Somogy County, and the seat of the Kapo ...

for several decades. Her mother Ágnes Farkas de Boldogfa, a cello teacher, hailed from the Hungarian

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family Farkas de Boldogfa from the

Zala county Zala ( hu, Zala megye, ; ; ) is an administrative county ( comitatus or ''megye'') in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia ( Koprivnica–Križevci and Međimurje Counties) and Slovenia ( Lend ...

. Her maternal grandparents were György Farkas de Boldogfa (1924–1988), was a physical education associate professor, president of the Baranya County Gymnastics Association, textbook writer, and Ágnes Dulánszky de Doliánszk. Kokas began studying violin in

with Béla Gyánó when she was five years old. She continued her studies with György Papp in

and later at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest where, at the age of 11, she was taught by Ferenc Halász and Dénes Kovács. She received a full scholarship to study at the Conservatory of Toronto with Lóránd Fenyves when she was 16. She returned to Budapest, graduating with honours from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.

Career

Katalin has six recordings on

Hungaroton Hungaroton is the oldest record and music publisher company in Hungary. Hungaroton was founded in 1951, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. Prev ...

and BMC records. She is director of the Kaposvár International Chamber Music Festival, which she founded in 2010. Past performers have included

Joshua Bell Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He plays the Gibson Stradivarius. Early life and education Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, a psychologi ...

Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976 in Espoo) is a Finnish musician. Biography Kuusisto comes from a musical lineage. His grandfather was a composer and organist, his father is a jazz musician who has composed operas, and his mother is a music t ...

Zoltán Kocsis Zoltán Kocsis (; 30 May 1952 – 6 November 2016) was a Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer. Biography Studies Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 19 ...

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 an ...

Instruments

The ''Cecilia''

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are c ...

violin, an antique dated to 1697, was loaned to Kokas for five years in 2011 by the now defunct Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. The ''Cecilia'' is said to have arrived in Hungary with Archbishop János Pyrker, who purchased several high quality instruments in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. It was sold after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; the violin's history between the war and its reappearance in Hungary are not known. She also plays a 1863 Luigi Fabris viola.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokas, Katalin Hungarian classical violinists Hungarian classical violists Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century Hungarian women 1978 births Living people Women classical violinists