Bio

MIHÁLY BERECZ

Winner of the Liszt-Bartók Prize at the 15th Concours Géza Anda 2021 Mihály
Berecz was born in Budapest in 1997 and began to learn the violin at the age of six.
Later, in parallel with his work in various orchestras, he began to devote himself to
the piano with Edit Major and Erzsébet Belák. He obtained his First Class Honours
Bachelor of Music degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Christopher
Elton.

Winner of the Debut Berlin International Concerto Competition, Mihály performed for
the first time at the Berlin “Philharmonie” in June 2017. Previous awards include the
Golden Prize of the 2nd Manhattan International Music Competition and the Harriet
Cohen Bach Prize of the Royal Academy of Music. At the 2013 Young Euro Classic
Festival he performed Liszt’s “Hungarian Fantasy” at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Also in
2013, and upon the invitation of Zoltán Kocsis, he made his debut at the Béla Bartók
National Concert Hall, Budapest. At the Liszt Academy, where he frequently
performs, he recently played Mozart’s “Jenamy” concerto under the baton of Mikhail
Pletnev.

Mihály’s interest in historical interpretation has led to performances of fortepiano
concertos with renowned orchestras playing on period instruments, such as the
Orfeo Orchestra. Between 2020 and 2022, as part of a scholarship from the
Hungarian Academy of Arts, he performed Béla Bartók’s complete solo works in eight
concerts at the Hungarian Radio’s Marble Hall. Another recent success for Mihály
was at the 2023 Kissingen Piano Olympics, where he was awarded first prize.
During the 2024/25 season he will appear in recital series in Berlin, Brussels,
Böblingen, Budapest, Esterhazy, Hamburg, London, Madrid and Wädenswil, as well
as at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-
Vorpommern Festival and the Hitzacker Summer Music Festival. The German
orchestras in Osnabrück and Lübeck, as well as in Hungary the Hungarian National
Philharmonic, Concerto Budapest, MAV Symphony Orchestra, Istvan Symphony
Orchestra and the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra have invited him to perform
piano concertos on modern piano or fortepiano.