Bio

Biography

MIHÁLY BERECZ

Winner of the 2023 Kissingen Piano Olympics, Mihály Berecz began his musical studies on
the violin at the age of six before devoting himself to the piano. He studied in London at the
Royal Academy of Music under Christopher Elton and in Berlin with Kirill Gerstein.
His early debuts include Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with Zoltán Kocsis at the Béla Bartók
National Concert Hall in Budapest in 2013, as well as Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy at the Berlin
Konzerthaus in the same year.
His previous awards include the Aoyama Hall Prize in Kyoto (2023), the Harriet Cohen Bach
Prize of the Royal Academy of Music, and the Liszt–Bartók Prize at the 15th Concours Géza
Anda in Zürich (2021).
Notable debut highlights in 2024 included performances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam,
where he appeared with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s
First Piano Concerto, and Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with the Kammerphilharmonie
Bremen at the Kissinger Sommer Festival.
An encounter with Malcolm Bilson inspired him to explore historic keyboards, leading to
numerous recitals and concerto performances with ensembles like the Orfeo Chamber
Orchestra and the Osnabrücker Sinfonieorchester.
Between 2020 and 2022, supported by a scholarship from the Hungarian Academy of Arts,
he performed Béla Bartók’s complete solo piano works in eight concerts at the Hungarian
Radio’s Marble Hall. In addition, Bartók’s three piano concertos and complete chamber
music works form a core part of his repertoire.
He has established a close musical partnership with Elisabeth Leonskaja, and their
collaboration has resulted in highly acclaimed concerts at major venues such as Wigmore
Hall, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Gewandhaus Leipzig.
His festival debuts in 2025 included the Flagey Piano Days in Brussels, Schleswig-Holstein
Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hitzacker Festival, and Piano aux Jacobins
in Toulouse.
As a soloist, he has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Zoltán Kocsis,
Mikhail Pletnev, Tarmo Peltokoski, Jérémie Rhorer, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Jan Willem de
Vriend, and András Keller. He has appeared with orchestras such as the
Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Verbier
Chamber Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Philharmonisches Orchester der
Hansestadt Lübeck, Hungarian National Philharmonic, and Concerto Budapest, performing in
prestigious concert halls including the Berlin Philharmonie, Tonhalle Zürich, Salle de
Musique La Chaux-de-Fonds, Fundación Juan March, and the Liszt Academy in Budapest.
As an active chamber musician, he has performed at renowned festivals such as the
Blaricum Festival (Netherlands), Kaposfest, and Festival Academy Budapest, collaborating
with artists including Elisabeth Leonskaja, Josef Špaček, Barnabás Kelemen, and Kristóf
Baráti.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include his debut at the Boulez Saal in Berlin, Festival
Musikdorf Ernen, Würzburg Mozart Festival, Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Liszt
Academy in Budapest and engagements with the Orchestre National du Capitole de
Toulouse, the Hungarian National Philharmonic, and Concerto Budapest.

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