György Pauk, violin

Before settling in London in 1961 he was the First Prize winner of the Paganini and the Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competitions and was already a distinguished concert artist in Hungary as well as in Eastern Europe.

He made his London debut with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Lorin Maazel and his USA debut with the Chicago Symphony at the invitation of Sir George Solti. He has performed on all five continents, with most of the major orchestras and conductors, giving an average of eighty concerts a season. He boasts an exceptionally rich repertoire, also for chamber music, that includes some of the masterpieces of the 20th century. He gave world and national premieres of the works by Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Schnittke, Maxwell Davies and Michael Tippett with the composers conducting. György is also considered one of the greatest Bartók interpreters worldwide. Among his numerous recordings are several award winners.

He retired from stage after turning seventy, with a career stretching over half a century. He gave a series of farewell concerts, playing the Bartók Concerto with the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer.

György has a permanent performers class at the Royal Academy of Music as well as giving masterclasses at renowned music academies, festivals in Europe, the United States, Japan and China. He has received several public honours in Britain as well as the Highest Order of the Republic of Hungary.

At the London Master Classes he has conducted the violin class on numerous occasions.

György plays on the Massart Stradivarius of 1714, the master’s Golden Period and he wrote an autobiography ‘A Life in Music: Memories of 80 years with the Violin’.

György was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of London in 2016.