Zoltán Rozsnyai

Who was Zoltán Rozsnyai?

Zoltán Rozsnyai was an Hungarian conductor and musical director.

Born in Budapest, he was a graduate of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied under Zoltán Kodály, Béla Bartók, and Ernest von Dohnányi, and conducting under János Ferencsik, among others. Already a concert pianist at the age of 10, he was one of the youngest students ever accepted by the Academy. At 24, he was appointed Music Director of the Debrecen Opera and subsequently the orchestras of Miskolc, Pécs and Győr in Hungary.

In 1954, he became permanent conductor of the Hungarian National Philharmonia Concert Organization. In May 1956, he was awarded the second prize at the International Conductor's Competition in Rome, which resulted an immediate invitation to return to Rome as a guest conductor. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Rozsnyai left Budapest for Vienna, where he founded the famous Philharmonia Hungarica orchestra, composed of outstanding exiled musicians. With tireless effort, he built the Philharmonica Hungarica into one of the most outstanding concert orchestras in Europe. Under the auspices of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, Mr. Rozsnyai brought the Philharmonic Hungarica to America in 1959 for its first United States tour. They earned high critical acclaim everywhere. Individual guest invitations followed.