Biography
Guitarist Zsófia Boros has built a reputation for a restrained and elegant approach to her instrument. Several of her recordings have appeared on the ECM imprint.
Born in Prague on April 22, 1980, while the city still formed part of Czechoslovakia, she comes from a Hungarian family. Her formal training began at the Bratislava Conservatory in Slovakia under Josef Zsapka. She continued her studies in Budapest and later at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she ultimately settled. Support from the Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna and the Thyll Foundation in Switzerland aided her progress, after which she completed her training at the Francisco Tárrega Guitar Academy in Pordenone, Italy. Early recognition arrived through first prizes at the North London Music Festival, Italy’s Concorso Internationale Val Tidone, the Paganini Competition in Parma, and the Premio Enrico Mercatali in Gorizia. Her first album, Musicbox, reached listeners via the Preiser label in 2008 and already displayed an eclectic selection that embraced works by Leo Brouwer, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Francisco Tárrega, and Isaías Savio.
Boros has toured extensively as a soloist across major international stages. She has shared programs with cellist Anja Lechner, violinist Arabella Steinbacher, and bassoonist Benedikt Dinkhauser, and she has also appeared in dance settings. Her concerts frequently feature new music; composers including Muthspiel, Tonū Kõrvits, and Mathias Duplessy have written pieces specifically for her. Festival appearances have spanned both classical and jazz contexts. Her profile rose further after she joined the ECM roster in 2012, a move that led to releases in both classical and jazz idioms. The first of these, En otra parte, arrived in 2013 and mixed Latin American, North American, and European repertoire. Two further ECM albums followed: Local Objects in 2016 and the French- and Argentine-focused El Último Aliento in 2023.
Born in Prague on April 22, 1980, while the city still formed part of Czechoslovakia, she comes from a Hungarian family. Her formal training began at the Bratislava Conservatory in Slovakia under Josef Zsapka. She continued her studies in Budapest and later at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she ultimately settled. Support from the Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna and the Thyll Foundation in Switzerland aided her progress, after which she completed her training at the Francisco Tárrega Guitar Academy in Pordenone, Italy. Early recognition arrived through first prizes at the North London Music Festival, Italy’s Concorso Internationale Val Tidone, the Paganini Competition in Parma, and the Premio Enrico Mercatali in Gorizia. Her first album, Musicbox, reached listeners via the Preiser label in 2008 and already displayed an eclectic selection that embraced works by Leo Brouwer, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Francisco Tárrega, and Isaías Savio.
Boros has toured extensively as a soloist across major international stages. She has shared programs with cellist Anja Lechner, violinist Arabella Steinbacher, and bassoonist Benedikt Dinkhauser, and she has also appeared in dance settings. Her concerts frequently feature new music; composers including Muthspiel, Tonū Kõrvits, and Mathias Duplessy have written pieces specifically for her. Festival appearances have spanned both classical and jazz contexts. Her profile rose further after she joined the ECM roster in 2012, a move that led to releases in both classical and jazz idioms. The first of these, En otra parte, arrived in 2013 and mixed Latin American, North American, and European repertoire. Two further ECM albums followed: Local Objects in 2016 and the French- and Argentine-focused El Último Aliento in 2023.
Albums
