User:Sandor.bodonyi/Kecskés D. Balázs

Balázs Kecskés D. (Szeged, March 30, 1993-) Artisjus Prize winner and Istvánffy Benedek Prize winner Hungarian composer, assistant professor at the Liszt Ferenc University of Music. In his compositions, he draws from the classical music history tradition of the past centuries, while creating his own, individual world by placing elements with a long past - forms, harmonies - in a new context. He has a wide repertoire of works, including solo and chamber works, orchestral compositions, concertos, and vocal works.

== Biography == The music of Balázs Kecskés D. can be characterized by both emotional depth and intellectual richness. His compositions are “pieces of art created with gentle colours, and carefully composed over time” (as per the laudation by Máté Hollós). He draws from the historical traditions of the past centuries, while creating his own, unique world by placing elements with a long history – forms and harmonies – into a new context. As Jeanette Fang described his piano quartet titled Accusativus: “Balázs creates mesmerizing moments of suspended beauty, with an ear for stillness and reverie that makes one think of Debussy”.

As a lecturer at the Composition Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Kecskés D. considers teaching and musical history research his vocation, besides composing being his primary activity.

His repertoire includes a wide range of works such as solo and chamber music, orchestral compositions, concertos, in addition to vocal works. He composes for chamber ensembles with a long tradition (piano quartet, piano trio), and for choirs. His compositions containing lyrics often cover sacral topics, and draw on philosophical writings. His oratorio for string quartet and four voices titled Komm is based on the texts of Gilles Deleuze, Claire Parnet, Paul Thymich, and T. S. Eliot. This work evokes the chorales of Bach while also highlights current, burning questions of our times.

is works are performed on both national and international stages. The U.S.-based Garth Newel Piano Quartet regularly plays his piano quartet Accusativus. His prelude for pianist Martin Tchiba has been on the artist’s repertoire since its 2018 premiere in Düsseldorf. At the ISCM music festival in 2019, the Estonian Collegium Musicale Chamber Choir performed his choral composition titled Alleluja. Kecskés D. is also an active figure of the Hungarian concert life, his pieces have been played by ensembles such as the Hungarian Radio Orchestra and Choir, the Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, the Budapest String Orchestra, the Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir, the Kodály Choir, the Vass Lajos Chamber Choir, and the Budapest Concerto Symphony Orchestra.

Among the numerous national and international awards and competition prizes the most outstanding are the 1st prize he won at the Generace composer competition in Ostrava in 2020 for his composition Komm, and the Garth Newel Award he received in 2018 for his piano quartet Accusativus, selected by a jury from 90 entries.

In recognition for his compositional activity, he received the Junior Artisjus Award in 2020. In 2019, he won the Istvánffy Benedek Award of the Hungarian Composers’ Union for his choir piece titled Trois romances, a recognition awarded annually to an outstanding composer under 40.

In 2019, he was presented with the three-year-long artistic grant of the Hungarian Academy of Arts. He won the scholarship of the New National Excellence Program on two occasions in 2018 and 2019. He also received the composition award of the Aurora Musis Amica Foundation in 2016 for his diploma composition titled Psalm Fragment.

He fulfilled his secondary music studies at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of István Fekete Győr (composition) and Balázs Kecskés (piano) between 2007 and 2011. He continued his education at the Composition Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music from where he graduated with high honours in the class of János Vajda in 2016. In 2015 and 2016 he studied at the Luigi Cherubini Music Conservatory in Firenze as a student of Paolo Furlani. Since 2017 he has been a doctoral student in composition at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and a lecturer at the Composition Department of the university.

Balázs Kecskés D. is a regular attendee of festivals and masterclasses, enabling him to work with some of the most prominent classical musicians of the world. He participated at the masterclasses of Heinz Holliger, Louis Andriessen, Fabio Nieder, David Lang, Christopher Austin, Paolo Furlini, and Hugi Gundundsson. He also attended the Dark Music Days Festival of Iceland in 2017. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Livorno Music Festival scholarship for composition.

Besides his activities as a composer and a lecturer, he is a dedicated music scholar. His main research areas are the music of British composer Thomas Adès and the post-minimalist trends of contemporary music in the U.S. In his writings he also studies the connections between pop music and classical western traditions, as well as the dynamic nature of classical music.

== Current activities ==  2020-present 


 * Franz Liszt Academy of Music – external lecturer (composition department)

 2017- 2020 


 * Franz Liszt Academy of Music – external lecturer (composition department)

2017-2019


 * Béla Bartók Secondary Music School – composition teacher

2013-2016


 * Hungarian Dance Academy – piano accompanist

Studies
 2017- present 


 * Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music Doctoral School - Composition DLA

 2016-2017 


 * Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music - Composition teacher TMA

 2014-2016 


 * Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music - Composition MA (Professor: János Vajda)

 2015-2016 


 * Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini, Firenze
 * Erasmus+ Program
 * Composition (Professor: Paolo Furlani)

 2011-2014 


 * Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music - Composition BA (Professor: János Vajda)

 2007-2011 


 * Béla Bartók Secondary Music School
 * Composition (Professor: István Fekete Győr)
 * Piano (Professor: Balázs Kecskés)

Major works
 2019: 


 * 2019    Liebeslieder (for flute, cello and piano, Trio Espresso, Liszt Academy, Solti Hall, Budapest)
 * Komm (for string quartet and four voices, based on texts by Gilles Deleuze, Claire Parnet, Paul Thymich and T. S. Eliot, Kruppa Quartet, Fasori Reformed Church, Budapest)

 2018: 


 * Relief (for piano solo, Éva Szalai, Budapest Music Center, Budapest)
 * Concerto grosso (for bass trombone solo and string orchestra, Budapest Strings, Budapest Music Center, Budapest)
 * Alleluja (for mixed choir, Kodály Choir, Béla Bartók 28th International Choir Competition and Festival, Kölcsey Center, Debrecen)
 * Trois sérénades(ensemble, Old Liszt Academy, Budapest)
 * Prelude for Martin Tchiba (for piano solo, WIReless, Tonhalle, Martin Tchiba, Düsseldorf)

 2017: 


 * Enyhülés (Patience and Courage) (for soprano and piano, based on verses by János Arany, Nóra Tatai, Ferenc János Szabó, MINI-Festival, Vigadó, Budapest)
 * Trois romances (for mixed choir and piano, New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir, Liszt Academy, Solti Hall, Budapest)
 * Accusativus (piano quartet, Garth Newel Piano Quartet, Garth Newel, USA)
 * Partita (for piano solo, Domonkos Csabay, Old Liszt Academy, Budapest)

 2016: 


 * String Quartet (for string quartet, Kruppa Quartet, Metronóm Tető, Budapest)
 * Floating (ensemble, Livorno Music Festival, Livorno)
 * Zsoltártöredék (for orchestra, mixed choir and tenor soloist, based on Psalm 90 and selected verses by Attila József, Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok, Liszt Academy, Great Hall, Budapest)
 * Fantasy (for violin and piano, Bálint Kruppa, Domonkos Csabay, Liszt Academy, Great Hall, Budapest)

2014 :


 * Szonya (opera scene, orchestra, soloists, Budapest Concerto Symphony Orchestra, Liszt Academy, Solti Hall, Budapest)

== Awards, competition results, scholarships ==  2020: 


 * „GENERACE” Composer Competition – 1st prize, Ostrava
 * Junior Artisjus Award

 2019: 


 * Istvánffy Benedek Award (Trois romances)
 * 2019   Hungarian Academy of Arts - scholarship
 * New National Excellence Program - scholarship

2018 Garth Newel Piano Quartet – a week-long residency at the United States invited by the Garth Newel Piano Quartet, Garth Newel, USA


 * Garth Newel Award (Accusativus)
 * János Arany Composition Competition – 3rd prize, Budapest
 * New National Excellence Program - scholarship

 2016: 


 * Livorno Music Festival – scholarship for composers
 * Aurora Musis Amica Award (Psalm Fragment) Young Talents of the Nation Scholarship


 * Scholarship of the Hungarian Republic – Young Talents of the Nation Scholarship

 2013: 


 * Composer Competition in Memory of Géza Gárdonyi – 2nd prize, Budapest

 2012: 


 * „GENERACE” Composer Competition – 3rd prize, Ostrava
 * Liszt Academy Composer Competition – 1st prize, Budapest

 2011: 


 * “Hajnalok Völgye” Choir Festival – MAIN PRIZE, Csáb
 * Béla Bartók National Composer Competition – 2nd prize, Budapest

Soundtracks
2019  Szabadság, harc (short film by Balázs Sára and László Koppány Csáji)

Publications

 * 2017 Kecskés D. B: Do We Need Popular Music? Parlando, 2017
 * 2017 Kecskés D. B: Modulation as a Symbol  - The ’Highly Responsible’ Role of Semitones, Parlando, 2017

Masterclasses, courses
2019 ISCM Festival – Alleluja was performed by the Collegium Musicale Chamber Choir, Tallinn

2017 Dark Music Days Festival – Masterclass of Hugi Gudmundsson, Rejkjavik

 2016: 


 * Livorno Music Festival – Masterclass of Christopher Austin, Livorno
 * Royal Academy of Music – study visit, London

 2014 

Masterclass of David Lang, Budapest

Masterclass of Heinz Holliger, Budapest

2013 Conservatorio Santa Cecilia – study visit, Rome

 2012: 


 * International Bartók Seminary – Masterclass of Louis Andriessen és Fabio Nieder, Szombathely
 * Academy of Music in Cracow– study visit,

More Informations

 * Balázs Kecskés D. Official Website