Gábor Ormai (1 September 1954 – 7 July 1995) was a Hungarian violist and educator who was most famous as a co-founder of the

Takács Quartet The Takács Quartet is a string quartet founded in Budapest, Hungary, and now based in Boulder, Colorado, United States. History In 1975, four students at the Music Academy in Budapest, Gábor Takács-Nagy (first violin), Károly Schranz (se ...

in 1975; a group with which he toured widely in performance, made several recordings, and won multiple international awards up until just a few months before his death from cancer in 1995. In 1982, the quartet became an ensemble in residence at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

, and Ormai taught on the string faculty at that institution until his illness prevented him from continuing. Prior to forming the quartet, Ormai won second prize at the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition () is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and is held once a year in Munich, usually in September. Since its inception in 1952, it h ...

as a solo violist.

Early life and education

Born in the

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

, Ormai studied

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, viola, and

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 ...

; and was trained at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, 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 Liszt Collection, which features several ...

. There he gave a recital on all three instruments when he was 17 years old. His string teachers at the academy were cellist

András Mihály András Mihály �ɒndraːʃ ˈmihaːj(6 November 1917 – 19 September 1993) was a Hungarian cellist, composer and academic teacher. Life Mihály was born in Budapest. He studied there at the Franz Liszt Academy: cello with Adolf Schiffer, ...

and violinist

Zoltán Székely Zoltán Székely ( Hungarian: Székely Zoltán; 8 December 1903 in Kocs, Hungary – 5 October 2001 in Banff, Canada) was a Hungarian violinist and composer. Biography Székely studied violin with Jenő Hubay and composition with Zoltán Kod� ...

. While a student, he won second prize at the

in Munich as a solo violist.

Career

In 1975, Ormai cofounded the

with three of his fellow students: violinists

Gábor Takács-Nagy Gábor Takács-Nagy (born 17 April 1956''International Who's Who in Classical Music'' (25th edition). Routledge (London), p. 807 (2009) (). in Budapest) is a Hungarian violinist and conductor. He began violin studies at age 8. He attended the Franz ...

and Károly Schranz, and cellist

András Fejér András Fejér (born 1955) is a Hungarian cellist. He is a member of the Takács Quartet, having founded it with three classmates at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest in 1975. He was born into a musical family and became familiar wit ...

. The quartet won first prize at both the International String Quartet Competition in

Évian-les-Bains Évian-les-Bains (), or simply Évian (, , or ), is a Communes of France, commune in Eastern France, by the border with Switzerland. It is located in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. A high-m ...

, France in 1977 and the Portsmouth International String Quartet in 1979. In 1982 Ormai moved with his wife, Gyonge, from Hungary to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

in the United States when the Takács Quartet became an ensemble in residence at the

. While at the University of Colorado Boulder, Ormain maintained a busy international performance schedule with the Takács Quartet. The group recorded Bartok's six string quartets in 1984 with

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. P ...

. In 1988 they recorded string quartets by

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

's subsidiary

London Recordings London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, and they made three recording for

Decca Classics Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

in 1990-1991. He taught there until his diagnosis of terminal cancer just months before his death on July 7, 1995.

Personal life

Ormai and his wife had one son together, and divorced in 1992. He was romantically involved with violinist Anna Schmidt in the latter part of his life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormai, Gabor 1954 births 1995 deaths Hungarian violists Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty