György Kurtág

György Kurtág, born on 19 February 1926 in Lugoj, Romania, is a distinguished Hungarian composer and pianist known for his contemporary classical music. He moved to Budapest in 1946, becoming a Hungarian citizen and studying at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Kurtág is a pivotal figure linked to the European avant-garde postwar composers, noted for his compact and immediate style influenced by Bartók, Webern, and Stravinsky. His academic career includes teaching piano and chamber music at the Franz Liszt Academy until 1993. Marked by a period of depression, his Paris studies in 1957-58 with notable composers and his recovery greatly shaped his musical output, leading to his first significant work, his Opus 1. Kurtág has been recognized with several prestigious awards for his contribution to music.