András Virágh
The Franz Liszt Prize-winning organist and choirmaster, who has been contributing to the sacred music life of St Stephen’s Basilica for more than four decades, and is a leading figure in Hungarian organ music.
professional achievements
Magyarország Érdemes Művésze
2012
Sportért és Művészetért Díj
2008
Pro Civibus-díj
2001
Liszt Ferenc-díj
2001
Cziffra Alapítvány különdíja – II. Liszt Ferenc Nemzetközi Orgonaverseny
1983
beginnings
András Virágh began his musical studies at the Béla Bartók Secondary School of Music, before going on to obtain a diploma in organ performance and teaching from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1983. In the same year, he was a finalist in the 2nd Ferenc Liszt International Organ Competition, where he was awarded the Cziffra Foundation’s Special Prize for his outstanding performance of works by Liszt.
Throughout his career, he made a lasting contribution as an organist, choirmaster and teacher. For nearly three decades, he served as choirmaster and musical director at the Belvárosi Főplébánia Church; he led the Kapisztrán Choir and the Budapest Choir for seven years; and in 2013, he founded the ETUNAM Mixed Choir. He taught for more than thirty years at the Department of Church Music at the ELTE Savaria University Centre, where, as an organ teacher and head of department, he helped generations of students to develop their artistic skills.
He performs regularly in Hungary and abroad, and has released more than twenty solo albums, including complete recordings of organ works by Franz Liszt, César Franck and Zoltán Kodály. His artistic achievements have been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the Franz Liszt Prize and the title of Meritorious Artist of Hungary.
St. Stephen's Basilica
For more than four decades now, the name András Virágh has been inextricably linked with the sacred music life of St Stephen’s Basilica. He has been serving regularly at the Basilica since 1979, where over the years he has taken part in hundreds of liturgies, festive ceremonies and concerts. Since 1991, he has been the organist for the Christmas Midnight Mass, which has become one of the most significant traditions in the Basilica’s musical life.
His work has been instrumental not only in organ performance but also in shaping the Basilica’s concert programme. He is credited with launching the Monday afternoon organ concerts, and for many years he organised the Friday evening concerts and also performed in them.
He oversaw both restorations of the Basilica’s grand organ. During the most recent restoration, he contributed his professional expertise to the project, as a result of which the historic Angster organ has been enriched with new artistic possibilities. He is convinced that the restored instrument both preserves its past and opens up new horizons, securing the Basilica a rightful place amongst Europe’s leading concert venues.
At the Stephanus International Organ Festival
At the concerts of the Stephanus International Organ Festival, András Virágh shares with the audience the experience gained from more than four decades of service in the basilica, as well as his artistic philosophy. In his performances, liturgical tradition, Hungarian organ culture and concert art form a natural unity.
His programme, performed on the restored grand organ of the basilica, is both a tribute to the instrument’s history and a celebration of the continuity that has shaped the musical life of St Stephen’s Basilica across generations.