Antal Zalai

Who is Antal Zalai?

Antal Zalai is a Hungarian concert violinist.

Antal Zalai began his classical violin studies at the age of five. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in 2009 where he was a student of Kati Sebestyén. Prior to his studies in Brussels, his teachers were László Dénes, Péter Komlós and Jozef Kopelman in Budapest. In addition, Zalai has attended masterclasses with Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Erick Friedman, Tibor Varga, Lewis Kaplan and György Pauk.

At age 15 he gained international recognition by performing the Bartók Violin Concerto No.1 at Lord Yehudi Menuhin's 80th anniversary tribute gala concert at the Grand Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest on 1 October 1996. In the development of his career, Zalai has enjoyed collaborations with eminent conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Paavo Järvi, Yoel Levi, Lawrence Foster, Gilbert Varga, Shlomo Mintz, Ludovic Morlot, Laurent Petitgirard, Enrique Bátiz Campbell, Yip Wing-sie, and Gábor Takács-Nagy.

He made his UK debut in Liverpool in 2008 where he performed the Glazunov Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and conductor Ludovic Morlot. He performed the same violin concerto at his Berlin debut in 2008, as soloist of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in the Berliner Philharmonie.