JURY MEMBER

GABOR VARGA

Born in Hungary in 1974, Gabor Varga studied at the University of
Szeged and the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest gaining his diplomas
in 1996 and 1998 respectively. He graduated from the Paris
Conservatoire as a Postgraduate in 2002.
His professional orchestral career began in 1995 when he was engaged
as Principal Clarinet in the Györ Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1996 he
became Principal of Concerto Budapest, and since 1997 he has been
Principal in the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Between 2005 and
2007 he served as Principal with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra
while on sabbatical from Budapest. He has also worked regularly with
the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra since 2001.
Winner of several national (in 1985, 1988 & 1992) and international
prizes(1994, 1995 & 2001), he has since performed in more than 25
countries worldwide (including USA, Canada, Peru, Japan, China,
Taiwan, Singapore, UK, France, Spain & Italy) and appeared as a
soloist in such concert halls as the Musikverein in Vienna and the
Gewandhaus in Lepzig, participating in various music festivals and
appearing at the most prestigious clarinet festivals.
A keen advocate of new music, he has premiered several new works of
chamber music and commissioned numerous Concerti from leading
composers like M. Patterson , Kovács, Durkó, Fekete, Szentpàli, Vajda and
is continually searching for opportunities to introduce new music to
the Hungarian public including the Sonata by Mieczyslaw Weinberg and
Thea Musgrave’s Clarinet Concerto.
His recordings include several chamber works and Concertos by Weber
and Mozart for Hungarian Radio and CD recordings of the Nielsen
Concerto, Dreamdances by Kovàcs, chamber music by Drusetzky and
Vajda’s clarinet works.
He regularly gives masterclasses in Europe, Asia, North America, South
America at major universities (Beijing, Katowice, London etc.) and for
the ICA and ECA clarinet festivals. His teaching career started at the
Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest in 2001 as an assistant. In 2006 he
taught at the NAFA in Singapore. In 2014 he joined the staff of the
University of Debrecen in Eastern Hungary but later that year he was
appointed Professor of Clarinet at the Tibor Varga Faculty of Musical
Arts at the University of Györ.
Between 2017 and 2019 he was holding the position of “ International Chair
of Clarinet “ at the RNCM, Manchester, where later on 2019 he was appointed
to position of “ clarinet tutor “
In 2022 he has been appointed to the Associate Professor of Clarinet position at
The Jacob School of Music, Bloomington, IN.