Társulat

Balázs Kocsár

Balázs Kocsár

Conductor, general music director
 

Born in Budapest in 1963, Balázs Kocsár studied composition at the Béla Bartók Conservatory. At the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, he studied choral directing as a student of István Párkai, and later conducting under Ervin Lukács, graduating from that department with honours in 1991. He took part in master classes led by Helmuth Rilling, Jorma Panula and Péter Eötvös, and then went on to complete his education at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, with Prof. Karl Österreicher as his adviser.

In 1989, he won third prize at Hungarian Television's Sixth International Conducting Competition, the contest's best showing from a Hungarian entrant. Between 1990 and 1993, at the invitation of József Gregor, he served as conductor at the National Theatre of Szeged before joining Ervin Lukács at the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, working as assistant conductor there between 1991 and 1994. From 1993 to 1999 he was music director at Debrecen's Csokonai National Theatre, where he succeeded in boosting opera performance in that city, to the great approval of both the profession and the audience. In 1999 he was recognised with the Liszt Award.

Earlier, in 1995, he won the Franco Ferrara Conducting Competition organised by the Teatro Dell'Opera di Roma in 1995, which brought him international recognition and numerous invitations. One of these led, in 1999, to his stint at Oper Frankfurt, where after his first successful performances, he was signed as first conductor (“Erster Kapellmeister”).

He has conducted in Milan, Florence, Rome, Venice, Palermo, Hamburg, Leipzig, Cologne, Antwerp, Geneva and Liège, and has also made appearances in Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Australia.

In 2004, he returned to Debrecen for another eight years in order to take leadership of the artistic side of the city's three most important musical institutions: the Debrecen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kodály Chorus and the opera division of the Csokonai National Theatre, where he successfully performed his mandate to raise each ensemble to a uniform standard and launch them into the cultural bloodstream of Europe.

A senior lecturer at the University of Pécs since 2010, he has since 2015 also served as a department head at the Music Institute of the university's Faculty of Arts. Since 2020, he is an associate professor with habilitation. Between 2011 and 2013 he served as music director of the Budapest Spring Festival.

He was named acting principal music director of the Hungarian State Opera in 2016, and the position was made permanent in 2017.

Since 1988, he has conducted more than a thousand performances of more than 90 different operas, ranging from Baroque works to contemporary operas, both in Hungary and abroad, in addition to collaborating on numerous DVDs and CD recordings. He was named an Artist of Merit in 2017 and Artist of Excellence in 2022.

Performances

September 26. 19:30
symphonic orchestra concert

OPERA185

Hungarian State Opera
36. Medveczky Ádám season ticket
November 3. 18:00
contemporary opera 16 rehearsal
Richard Wagner

DAS RHEINGOLD

Hungarian State Opera
November 5. 19:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

DAS RHEINGOLD

Hungarian State Opera
02. Molnár András season ticket
November 9. 19:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

DAS RHEINGOLD

Hungarian State Opera
November 10. 17:00
contemporary opera 16 rehearsal
Richard Wagner

DIE WALKÜRE

Hungarian State Opera
November 12. 17:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

DIE WALKÜRE

Hungarian State Opera
02. Molnár András season ticket
November 16. 17:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

DIE WALKÜRE

Hungarian State Opera
November 17. 16:00
contemporary opera 16 rehearsal
Richard Wagner

SIEGFRIED

Hungarian State Opera
November 19. 16:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

SIEGFRIED

Hungarian State Opera
02. Molnár András season ticket
November 23. 16:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

SIEGFRIED

Hungarian State Opera
November 24. 16:00
contemporary opera 16 rehearsal
Richard Wagner

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Hungarian State Opera
November 26. 16:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Hungarian State Opera
02. Molnár András season ticket
November 29. 16:00
contemporary opera 16
Richard Wagner

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Hungarian State Opera
December 22. 19:00
classic opera 12
Giacomo Puccini

LA BOHÈME

Hungarian State Opera
January 12. 18:00
contemporary opera 18 rehearsal
Giuseppe Verdi

OTELLO

Hungarian State Opera
January 14. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Giuseppe Verdi

OTELLO

Hungarian State Opera
January 18. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Giuseppe Verdi

OTELLO

Hungarian State Opera
07. Lukács Gyöngyi season ticket
January 20. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Giuseppe Verdi

OTELLO

Hungarian State Opera
40. Kertesi Ingrid season ticket
January 22. 11:00
contemporary opera 18
Giuseppe Verdi

OTELLO

Hungarian State Opera
08. Tokody Ilona season ticket
January 27. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Giuseppe Verdi

OTELLO

Hungarian State Opera
March 2. 18:00
mixed opera 12 rehearsal
Ferenc Erkel

HUNYADI LÁSZLÓ

Hungarian State Opera
March 8. 18:00
mixed opera 12
Ferenc Erkel

HUNYADI LÁSZLÓ

Hungarian State Opera
35. Pászthy Júlia season ticket
March 19. 11:00
mixed opera 12
Ferenc Erkel

HUNYADI LÁSZLÓ

Hungarian State Opera
18. Kiss-B. Atilla season ticket
March 26. 19:30
symphonic orchestra concert

MIKLÓS YBL 209

Hungarian State Opera
13. Szinetár Miklós season ticket
April 5. 16:00
contemporary opera 18 rehearsal
Richard Wagner

PARSIFAL

Hungarian State Opera
April 7. 17:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Wagner

PARSIFAL

Hungarian State Opera
April 9. 17:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Wagner

PARSIFAL

Hungarian State Opera
April 14. 17:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Wagner

PARSIFAL

Hungarian State Opera
04. Kasza Katalin season ticket
April 27. 18:00
contemporary opera 18 rehearsal
Richard Strauss

ELEKTRA

Hungarian State Opera
April 29. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Strauss

ELEKTRA

Hungarian State Opera
10. Kovács János season ticket
May 3. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Strauss

ELEKTRA

Hungarian State Opera
May 7. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Strauss

ELEKTRA

Hungarian State Opera
May 11. 18:00
contemporary opera 18 rehearsal
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA

Hungarian State Opera
May 13. 19:00
contemporary opera 18 premiere
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA

Hungarian State Opera
01. Opera Premier season ticket
May 14. 11:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Strauss

ELEKTRA

Hungarian State Opera
May 16. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA

Hungarian State Opera
17. Kováts Kolos season ticket
May 20. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Richard Strauss

ELEKTRA

Hungarian State Opera
03. Kelen Péter season ticket
May 21. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA

Hungarian State Opera
38. Kalmár Magda season ticket
May 25. 19:00
contemporary opera 18
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA

Hungarian State Opera
04. Kasza Katalin season ticket
May 28. 11:00
contemporary opera 18
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IDOMENEO, RE DI CRETA

Hungarian State Opera
08. Tokody Ilona season ticket