Artist database

Emese Virág is a pianist, coach and teacher at the singers’ department of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. She studied at the Pécs department of the Academy, and then in Budapest, where her teacher was Emmi Varasdy. As the accompanist of renowned singers and newly as a soloist, she regularly performs in Hungary and abroad. She has played in Paris, Grenoble, Bayreuth, Hannover, Brno, London, Toronto, Rome, Vienna, Moscow and cities of Switzerland, at several festivals (Contemporary Music of Budapest, Budapest Spring Festival and at the concerts of Budapest Goethe-Institut, Institut Français and Instituto Italiano). Many of her concerts have been recorded by the Hungarian Radio. She frequently plays contemporary Hungarian music and has given the first performance of a great deal of compositions which she received the Artisjus prize for in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2007 she was awarded the Gundel Prize of Arts, in 2008 the Ferenc Liszt Prize. She has made 12 CD’s with Hungaroton including songs of Liszt, Bartók, Kodály, Lajtha, Mihalovich, Dargomizhsky, Raff, Randhartinger, Gounod, Orbán and Vajda, an anthology of songs on three poems by Goethe (Erlkönig, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Gretchens Bitte) in several composers’ versions and she took part in the Bartók and the Kodály Complete Edition. Her first solo CD containing world premiere recordings of works by Hugo Wolf was released early 2008. Emese Virág has reached DLA degree in 2004.