Kálmán Dobos was born in Szolnok in 1931. In 1945 he lost his eye-sight due to an explosion. His started his musical studies in the same year. His intention was to become a pianist, but soon his interest turned towards composition. In 1950 he was admitted to the Faculty of Composition of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. In the following years his professor was János Viski. He also studied piano under Ernő Szegedi, history of music under Dénes Bartha and András Szőllősy, musical science under Lajos Bárdos, and folk music under Pál Járdányi. Gradually, composition became the most important activity in his life. In Vercelli, Italy he won a prize for his works for choir, and later won prizes at several other competitions, too. After graduating from the Academy, he became an employee of the Hungarian Radio, where he worked between 1957 and 1992.

Dobos' compositions have been broadcast and performed in concerts both in Hungary and abroad from the beginning of the late 50s. He played first performance of his pieces in Budapest in 1958, in Vienna in 1961-63, then again in Budapest in 1967.

He has been travelling the world ever since, and altogether 69 recordings have been made of these performances by radio and TV companies. He prefers to play his own compositions but occasionally performs works of Liszt, Bartók, Weiner, and Kodály.

He is mostly interested in chamber music, but has composed symphonic works, as well as choral works, church music and pieces for wind orchestra. Scores of his compositions have been published in Budapest and Paris. Besides composing, he has also written monographies on Manuel De Falla, Edvard Grieg and his teacher, János Viski.

Kálmán Dobos applies, among others, serial and aleatorial techniques indigeniously, and wants to create a synthesis of works of Bartók, Webern, Boulez, Ligeti and contemporary Polish composers having a similar artistic concept. He tries to make use of the most modern forms of musical expression.

Kálmán Dobos has been awarded with several prizes, among them the Erkel Award in 1999.