Artist database

This is the Artist Database of BMC, which includes information about composers, musicians, orchestras, choirs and groups that are either Hungarian or Hungarian by origin or live in Hungary, as well as information about releases recorded with them.

Pauk György


violin

Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1936

 
26 October 1936 Budapest.

Hungarian-born British violinist, one of the greatest Bartók-interpreters of our age.

He’s been playing the violin since he was five. His first teacher was Olga Neumann (maiden name: Nógrádi). At the age of thirteen he was accepted to the Music Academy in Budapest, where he studied with the guidance of Ede Zathurecky, Leó Weiner and Zoltán Kodály.

In 1956 he won the International Paganini Violin Contest in Genova. In the same year he left Hungary and first he settled down in the Netherlands, but since 1961 he’s been living in London. With his chamber partner Péter Frankl he won the first prize of the ARD Sonata Contest of Munich and came in first place 1959 at the Long-Thibaud Violin Contest in Paris. He debuted 1962 in London with the London Symphony, conducted by Lorin Maazel and also had a solo concert at Wigmore Hall. Later on, he has performed on the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. In Great Britain he performed with every orchestra of London and he’s been invited to the leading classical music festivals (BBC Proms, Bath, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, City of London, Orkney, Brighton and Bath). His concerts are regularly broadcasted on the BBC radio.

He debuted 1971 in the U.S. with the Chicago Symphony, conducted by György Solti. This concert has been followed by a number of invitations, not just to the most American symphonic orchestras, but also to many festivals (Aspen, Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga, Santa Fe, Ravinia).

After a long absence he came to Budapest in 1973 and ever since he has given many concerts in Hungary. During his outstanding and extensive international career György Pauk has worked with all the famous orchestras of the world, conducted by such artists as Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, Antal Doráti, Bernard Haitink, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gennagy Rogestvensky, Klaus Tennstedt, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, István Kertész, Iván Fischer, John Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, Andrew Davis, Colin Davis, Carlo Zecchi, Herbert Blomstedt, Kyril Kondrashin, János Fürst and many others.

Pauk has an exceptionally rich repertoire including the greatest masterworks of the 20th century. He presented many works by Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Schnittke, Maxwell Davies and Tippett, conducted by the composers. His recordings were awarded by the Cecilia Prize and the Gramophone Prize and he was also nominated to Grammy. The periodical “Gramophone” honored his record Contrasts with the Editor’s Choice Award - this album was recorded with Kálmán Berkes (clarinet) and Jenő Jandó (piano).

György Pauk devotes much time to teaching - he is professor of the London Royal Academy of Music. He became professor emeritus of Guildhall School of Music in 1980 and ten years later of the Royal Academy of Music. He’s been holding master courses in the U.S. (Curtis, Peabody, Yale, Cleveland, Oberlin, Manhattan School and San Francisco), China, Spain, Israel and Hungary. He’s been frequently invited to the jury of prestigious international contests.

For his international success in music, Hungary awarded him with the Middle Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic in 1998 and with the Bartók-Pásztory Prize in 2008. The Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music nominated him to doctor honoris and professor emeritus. György Pauk plays a Massart Stradivari violin that was made in 1714.