Zsolt Nagy - Enhanced biography
Zsolt Nagy was born in Gyula, Hungary, in 1957. He began his musical career as a coach and conductor at the City Theatre of Békécsaba (1976/79). At the age of 23 he took up conducting studies with István Párkai at the Academy of Music in Budapest (diploma in 1984).
He was twice awarded a Soros Foundation Scholarship for studies in Milan and Paris (1988, 1989). He participated in the seminars given by Péter Eötvös during the Bartók Festivals (1985-89) and subsequently worked as Eötvös's assistant in the Institute of New Music at the Karlsruhe Academy of Music (1990-95). In 1995-97 he served as Music Director of the Institute of Music Theatre. He was a guest lecturer at the International Eötvös Institute in Stuttgart (1995), Cologne (1997) and Edenkoben (1998, 2006).
Since 1999 he has held the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Israel Contemporary Players. In 2002 he was appointed professor of conducting at the Paris Conservatory. He was Artistic Director of the masterclasses for conductors organized by the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava and of the Masterclass for Young Conductors for New Music (held at the Music Centre in Jerusalem).
Zsolt Nagy has worked with many orchestras and ensembles including the RAI orchestras in Milan and Turin, the Jerusalem SO, the BBC SO, BBC Singers, the BBC SSO, the National Hungarian SO, the RIAS of Berlin, the Berliner Sinfonie Orchester , the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hilversum, the Geidai PO and the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, the Finnish Radio SO, the Radio Orchestras in Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Cologne, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble Contrechamps in Geneva, Ensemble Recherche, Klangforum Wien, Musikfabrik NRW, UMZE in Budapest, Collegium Novum of Zurich, Ictus in Brussels etc.
He has over 500 first performances to his credit, as well as numerous radio recordings and cds. He received a special award for the promotion of new Israeli music.
