Pauk György
violin
Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1936
26 October 1936 Budapest - 18 November 2024
Hungarian-born British violinist, one of the greatest Bartók-interpreters of our age.
He started playing the violin at the age of five. His first teacher was Olga Neumann (maiden name: Nógrádi). At the age of thirteen he entered 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 from 1961 he lived 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 performed on the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. In Great Britain he performed with every orchestra of London and he was invited to the leading classical music festivals (BBC Proms, Bath, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, City of London, Orkney, Brighton and Bath). His concerts were regularly broadcasted on the BBC radio.
He debuted 1971 in the U.S. with the Chicago Symphony, conducted by György Solti. This concert was 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 he gave many concerts in Hungary. During his outstanding and extensive international career György Pauk 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 had 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 Editors Choice Award - this album was recorded with Kálmán Berkes (clarinet) and Jenő Jandó (piano).
György Pauk devoted much time to teaching - he was a 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 held master courses in the U.S. (Curtis, Peabody, Yale, Cleveland, Oberlin, Manhattan School and San Francisco), China, Spain, Israel and Hungary. He was 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 played a Massart Stradivari violin that was made in 1714, and in 2024 he gave the instrument to Júlia Pusker.
Hungarian-born British violinist, one of the greatest Bartók-interpreters of our age.
He started playing the violin at the age of five. His first teacher was Olga Neumann (maiden name: Nógrádi). At the age of thirteen he entered 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 from 1961 he lived 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 performed on the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. In Great Britain he performed with every orchestra of London and he was invited to the leading classical music festivals (BBC Proms, Bath, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, City of London, Orkney, Brighton and Bath). His concerts were regularly broadcasted on the BBC radio.
He debuted 1971 in the U.S. with the Chicago Symphony, conducted by György Solti. This concert was 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 he gave many concerts in Hungary. During his outstanding and extensive international career György Pauk 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 had 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 Editors Choice Award - this album was recorded with Kálmán Berkes (clarinet) and Jenő Jandó (piano).
György Pauk devoted much time to teaching - he was a 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 held master courses in the U.S. (Curtis, Peabody, Yale, Cleveland, Oberlin, Manhattan School and San Francisco), China, Spain, Israel and Hungary. He was 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 played a Massart Stradivari violin that was made in 1714, and in 2024 he gave the instrument to Júlia Pusker.