Franz Halász

Guitarist Franz Halász occupies a leading position among today’s recitalists while maintaining a long-standing role as one of Germany’s most prominent guitar instructors. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 15, 1964, he began guitar studies at age eight and briefly pursued violin as well. His principal education took place in Germany, where he trained at the Musikhochschule Cologne under Eliot Fisk and received grants from the DAAD and the European Chamber Association. After completing his degree in 1991, he captured first prize at the Andrés Segovia Competition in Spain two years later, becoming the first German laureate. Subsequent competition successes led to his appointment in 1996 as professor of guitar at the Leopold Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg. He later joined the faculties of the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, and, beginning in 2010, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, while also conducting master classes throughout Europe as well as in New York and Boston. Halász’s spouse, pianist Debora Halász, frequently partners with him as the Halász Duo; he has likewise collaborated in recital with cellist Boris Pergamenschikov and tenor Siegfried Jerusalem. Festival appearances regularly place him at the Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte, the Kissinger Sommer, and the Toru Takemitsu Memorial Concerts in Tokyo. Orchestral engagements have included performances with the European Chamber Orchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. His recordings, issued on BIS and Naxos, encompass complete surveys of the guitar works of Takemitsu, Joaquín Turina, Hans Werner Henze, Astor Piazzolla, Bach, Mompou, and Sofia Gubaidulina, among others. The 2014 release Alma Brasileira received the 2015 Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album, while his 2019 BIS album of Bach’s Suites for lute marked the first recording to present these pieces in their original keys.