Ivan Fischer

Born January 20, 1951 in Budapest, Hungary, Iván Fischer is a conductor and composer best known as the founder of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Initially, he studied piano, cello, and violin as well as composition in Budapest. He later relocated to Vienna to study conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts. He also spent time studying at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. He won the Rupert Foundation conducting competition in London, England in 1976. He then became the guest conductor for British orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony. He returned to Hungary and founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO). His first recording was Concerto for Piano & Winds Mouvements/Concerto for Piano & Orchestra, Op. 42 in 1979, recorded with the BFO. He continued to split his time between his own BFO and short stints conducting other orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (in Washington D.C.), and others. His recordings have been released by several labels including Hungaroton, Quintana, Phillips Classics and Channel Classics Records. His releases Polkák (1991), The Bach Family (1993), Wagner (2013), and Overture & Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018). Over the years, he has received many awards including the Golden Medal Award from the President of Hungary and the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum.