Gábor Takács-Nagy (born 17 April 1956''International Who's Who in Classical Music'' (25th edition). Routledge (London), p. 807 (2009) (). in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) is a Hungarian violinist and conductor. He began violin studies at age 8. He attended 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 ...

, where he won the

Jenő Hubay Jenő Hubay von Szalatna ( ; 15 September 185812 March 1937), also known by his German name Eugen Huber (), was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher. Early life Hubay was born into a German family of musicians in Pest, Hungary ...

prize. His teachers at the Liszt Academy included Ferenc Rados,

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 György Kurtág. In 1975, Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gábor Ormai and

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 ...

founded the Takács Quartet. The quartet recorded for the

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 ...

and Decca labels. Takács-Nagy left the group in 1992 after developing hand stress, which forced him to stop playing the violin, and personal tensions arose within the quartet after it emigrated from Hungary to the United States. After he left the quartet, Takács-Nagy underwent musical therapy and resumed playing the violin. In 1996, Takács-Nagy founded the Takács Piano Trio with Dénes Várjon (piano) and Péter Szabo (cello). He also became concertmaster of 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 ...

. In 1997, he joined the faculty of the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève as Professor of String Quartet. In 1998, he established the Mikrokosmos String Quartet with Zoltán Tuska (second violin), Sándor Papp (viola) and Miklós Perényi (cello). Takács-Nagy also began to develop an interest in conducting. In 2005, he formed the string orchestra Camerata Bellerive, as a resident ensemble at the Festival de Bellerive in Geneva, where he has served as co-artistic director. In 2007, he became

Music Director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is a two week annual international music festival which is held in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier southeast of Lausanne, Switzerland. Begun by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted int ...

Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Hungarian State Symphony and of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra. In 2010, he became chief conductor and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra. He became principal guest conductor of the

effective with the 2012/2013 season. In 2010, the

Manchester Camerata The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances. The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridg ...

announced the appointment of Takács-Nagy as its fifth principal conductor (and Music Director), effective with the 2011–2012 season. Since then, he has recorded with the Manchester Camerata commercially for the Avie label and more recently for

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (born 17 October 1962) is a French classical pianist. Education Bavouzet was born in Lannion, France and grew up in Metz. He started his music studies there, encountering composers including Iannis Xenakis, Olivier Messia ...

at Chetham School of Music’s exceptional concert venue, The Stoller Hall. He became a principal artistic partner of the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2013. Takács-Nagy has held the International Chair in Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music. He married Lesley de Senger (''née'' Townson), a native of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, in 1991. They have two daughters.

References

External links

*
European Chamber Music Academy biography of Takács-Nagy

Royal Northern College of Music biography of Takács-Nagy

Bellerive Festival French-language page on Takács-Nagy
*
Manchester Camerata's Mozart, Made in Manchester series.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takacs-Nagy, Gabor Hungarian male classical violinists Hungarian male conductors (music) Concertmasters Deutsche Grammophon artists Hungarian music educators 1956 births Living people Musicians from Budapest 21st-century Hungarian conductors (music) 21st-century Hungarian classical violinists 21st-century Hungarian male musicians