Artist database

Tibor Polgára (11 March 1907, Budapest - 27 August 1993, Toronto) composer, conductor, pianist

Tibor Polgár was born on 11 March 1907 in Budapest.From 1917 to 1925 he studied at the Hungarian Royal State Madách Imre High School, then at Pázmány Péter University, where he studied aesthetics and art history. At the same time, he was a student of László Lajtha at the National Music Academy in clarinet, piano and composition, and later, at the Academy of Music, his professors in composition and piano were Zoltán Kodály, Albert Siklósi and Imre Keéri-Szántó.

From 1925 he worked for the Hungarian Radio and in the 1930s he was conductor of the Hungarian National Theatre. In 1944 he was forced to go into hiding because of the Jewish laws, and in the following years he took part in the reorganisation of Hungarian Radio. He accompanied Dr. Imre Palló on the piano on the first day of broadcasting on 1 May 1945. From that day on, he was principal conductor alongside music director László Lajtha, and from January 1946 he was head of the light music department. From 1947, he was a member of the Radio Broadcasting Board. From June 1949, he was the artistic director of the institution for one year. His comedy opera The Suitors debuted on the radio in 1954 and a year later at the Opera House. Between 1958 and 1961 he was musical director of the Petőfi Theatre and the Jókai Theatre.

In 1961 he emigrated to the German Federal Republic with his wife, singer Ilona Nagykovácsi. Between 1962 and 1964 he was co-conductor of the Philharmonia Hungarica. In 1964 they moved to Canada, where he and his wife were granted citizenship in 1969. From 1965 he conducted the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra for one year. From 1966 to 1975, he was a teacher and tutor in the opera department of the University of Toronto and the Canadian Opera Company. He is a contributor to the Canadian Hungarian newspaper. From 1976 to 1977 he taught orchestration at York University. Since the 1980s, however, he has concentrated exclusively on composition. In addition to his numerous works for stage, orchestra, chamber music and choir, he has composed music for some 200 films and 500 radio plays. He often worked with Lajos Zilahy. He also appeared in the 1958 film The Last Adventure of Don Juan, playing the opera conductor's role.

He was awarded the Ferenc Erkel Prize in 1952 and 1953, and the Hungarian Cross of the Order of Merit in 1993.

He died in Toronto on 27 August 1993, aged 86.