MÁTÉ SZŰCS Viola

Like many players of the viola, Máté Szűcs first learned the violin. He completed his violin studies with Ferenc Szecsödi at the conservatory in Szeged, changing to the viola in 1996 and becoming a pupil of Ervin Schiffer, who taught him at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Waterloo. This was followed by studies from 2000 to 2005 with Leo de Neve at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp, completed by Máté Szűcs with distinction.

In 2003 he began his career as an orchestral musician and principal violist. It has taken him from the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra in Antwerp by way of the Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle and Frankfurt Radio (hr) Symphony Orchestra to the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Principal Viola from 2008 to 2012) and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Máté Szűcs, who appears in concert throughout Europe as a soloist and chamber-music player, also teaches at the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark.

Awards: First Prize in the International Competition Jean Rogister in Liège