Miklós Bányai

Miklós Bányai was born in Cluj-Napoca in 1953, into a family of musicians. Between 1960 and 1972 he was a member of Péter Zsurka’s famous violin class at the Cluj-Napoca Music School, and from 1972 to 1976 he attended the Cluj-Napoca Music Academy as a student of Ferenc Balogh. From 1976 to 1989 he was a member of the Hungarian State Opera, and was the orchestra’s leader between 1987 and 1989. From 1981 he played viola in the Pro Camera String Quartet of the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic. He moved to Hungary with his family in 1989, where he first played at the Hungarian State Opera House; from 1991 he was a member of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 1989, as a member of the Camerata Budapest chamber orchestra, he has performed with many chamber ensembles and taken part in numerous contemporary premières. He has made many studio, radio and television recordings, performing both classical and contemporary works. He is a member of the Hungarian Musical Society, and on several occasions has received the Artisjus Award for performing contemporary works. In the past few years he has been holding master-classes in Romania. He has been a member of the viola section of the Budapest Festival Orchestra since 1992.