Márk Szabó
Conductor of the Gabrieli Choir since its resumption in 2021. (photo: © Balázs Andráskó)
It could be said that my interest in music was awakened rather late, around the age of twelve, when I started playing the guitar. Not long after, I became a member of the Balassa Bálint Mixed Choir in Esztergom. Under the guidance of Károly Reményi (the brother of János Reményi), I learned the basics of conducting, as he was also the choir’s conductor at the time.
After completing high school, I enrolled at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), where I graduated in 2019 as a certified computer engineer. During my university years, I continued my musical studies, learning piano, conducting, and music theory. In 2019, I applied to the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, where I continued my studies under Dr. Salamon Kamp.
In 2021, under the professional mentorship of Dr. Kamp, I was awarded the New National Excellence Program (ÚNKP) scholarship. I have always been a committed supporter of my hometown and its cultural life, and thus, based on the musical spirit of Károly Reményi, I organized the first “Reményi Károly Memorial Concert” within this framework. Also, from this year onwards, I became the conductor of the Gabrieli Choir in Budapest.
In 2022, I reached the finals of the Young Choir Conductors Lantos Rezső Competition and received the special prize of the Erkel Ferenc Mixed Choir Foundation. In the same year, I once again received the ÚNKP scholarship, through which I could explore the life’s work and activities of Franz Xaver Kleinheinz, a composer. With my research, I achieved first place in the 36th National Scientific Students’ Associations Conference (OTDK) in the field of musicology-music theory. In November 2022, I achieved second place at the VII International Choir Conductor Competition held in Banská Bystrica, and in the spring of 2023, I received the special prize of the Kardos Pál Foundation in Szeged at the Lantos Choir Conductor Competition.
In the academic year 2023/24, I was once again awarded the ÚNKP scholarship, through which I could research the work and motets of Károly Seyler, who was the first organist and chorusmaster of the Basilica of Esztergom.
During the same period, as part of the Erasmus scholarship, I studied choir conducting under Tobias Walenciak at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, orchestral conducting under Ralf Sochaczewsky, and early music under Matthias Stoffels. During my studies abroad, I had the privilege to work with renowned ensembles such as the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin (conducted by Justin Doyle) and the Philharmonischer Chor Berlin (conducted by Jörg-Peter Weigle), as well as the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra.
Currently, I continue my studies in choral conducting at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music under the professional guidance of Dr. Zsófia Cseri and Valér Jobbágy.
