Artist database

1 January 1940, Győr

Composer, music teacher, founding member of New Music Studio.

In 1966 he graduated in composing at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy, where his master was Endre Szervánszky. Encouraged by Albert Simon, he founded the New Music Studio together with Zoltán Jeney, László Vidovszky, Péter Eötvös and Zoltán Kocsis, László Sáry and László Vidovszky in 1970. The studio soon became an internationally renowned workshop for composers and performers, and introduced more than 600 contemporary music works between 1972 and 1990. He took part in the activity of the Studio as composer and as performer of his own and other composers’ works. In both capacities he’s been on stage in many countries.

He got familiar with the music and ideas of Christian Wolff when he visited Darmstadt in 1972. This encounter strengthened his decision to find such ways of composing which differ from the traditional European practice. The first product of this change was Sounds for…, composed in 1972. Since the early ‘80s he regularly composes music for theaters as well.

From the mid ‘70s he has started to work out his special creative music exercises called “Sáry-method”, which is engaged in the basics of the new musical thinking, gives directions to certain composing methods and improves improvisational skills and concentration. He has tried and still uses his pedagogical method with music school children and students of the University of Theater. He held a number of courses for music teachers in Japan, England, France, Italy, Belgium and Estonia.

Since 1990 he’s been music director of the József Katona Theater. His lately finished mystery play, chamber opera and petit opera prove his growing interest in stage works. As composer, László Sáry has received a number of requests, recently from a Japanese city, Shizuoka. On this occasion he composed his Labyrinth for string quartet and two marimbas. From 1994 he has taken part in an initiative of Lord Yehudi Menuhin, the MUSE project (source of music, balance and tolerance), which is a teaching method based on music, singing, dancing and exercise for disadvantaged children.

In 1996 he spent three months in Tokio as scholarship holder of the Japan Foundation and studied traditional Japanese theater, dance and music. He composed more than eighty works from chamber music through chamber opera to orchestral works. At the moment he is working on the complementation and printing of his new music pedagogical method.

In 1998 his symphony Steam Engine won third prize at the 7th International Electroacoustic Contest (IREN). He became ordinary member of the Szécheny Academy of Letters and Arts in 1999. The activity of László Sáry was honored with the Kassák Prize (1979), the Erkel Prize (1986), the Bartók-Pásztory Award (1993), the titles Merited Artist (2000) and Excellent Artist (2008).