Barnabás Kelemen
Violin
Barnabás Kelemen is one of the most versatile and celebrated violinists of his generation, renowned for his captivating technique, expressive musicality, and broad artistic range.
Conquering the most famous concert halls in the world with his dynamic and passionate performances and his open-minded individual playing he is an outstanding soloist chamber musician and conductor.
He began violin studies at age six and entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music at eleven, studying with Valéria Baranyai and Eszter Perényi, and later taking masterclasses with luminaries such as Isaac Stern, Ferenc Rados, György Kurtág,
and Zoltán Kocsis.
Kelemen has won major international prizes, including First Prize at the 1999 International Mozart Violin Competition in Salzburg and the 2002 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, as well as Third Prize at the 2001 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in Brussels. His artistry has been recognized with Hungary’s highest honors—the Kossuth Prize, Liszt and Bartók‑Pásztory Prizes, Prima Prize, and the Gramophone Award—and he holds the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.
As a soloist, Kelemen performs in the world’s leading concert halls—including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Royal Festival Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Berlin Philharmonie—and collaborates with top orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Budapest Festival Orchestra under distinguished conductors. His repertoire spans baroque, classical, and romantic works, and he is a passionate advocate for contemporary music, giving premieres of pieces by composers such as Kurtág, Ligeti, Schnittke, Gubaidulina,
and Steve Reich.
A devoted chamber musician, Kelemen founded the Kelemen Quartet with his wife Katalin Kokas, winning major international competitions and performing at major festivals and concert venues worldwide. His extensive discography has earned critical acclaim and prestigious awards, including a Gramophone Award for his recording of Bartók’s violin sonatas and multiple Grand Prix du Disque and Diapason d’Or honors for recordings of Liszt, Brahms, and Mozart.
In addition to his performing career, Kelemen is an influential educator: he has been a professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest since 2005 and has also taught at the University of Cologne and as a guest professor at institutions such as Indiana University. He regularly gives masterclasses around the world and serves on juries of major international competitions.
He currently performs on the historic “ex‑Dénes Kovács” Guarneri del Gesú violin (1742), generously on loan from the Hungarian State.
