Judit Varga (composer)
{{Short description|Hungarian composer and pianist}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Österreichischer Filmpreis 2014 A Judit Varga.jpg
| imagesize = 150px
| caption = Varga in 2014
| name = Judit Varga
| native_name = Varga Judit
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|01|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Győr, Hungary
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = composer, pianist and university lecturer
| years_active = present
}}
Judit Varga (born 12 January 1979 in Győr) is an Erkel Ferenc Prize and Béla Bartók - Ditta Pásztory Award winner composer, pianist and university lecturer.
She is known for contemporary classical music compositions as well as for composing for motion pictures and theatre pieces. As a solo pianist and chamber musician, she performed in many countries, on prestigious festivals. She is looking for new impulses both as a musician and as a teacher. The two primary platforms of her studies and work are Vienna and Budapest.
Life
She started her studies at the Liszt Ferenc Music School in Győr, where she played the piano and the flute. She then attended the Béla Bartók School in Budapest. At the age of 16, she has already received scholarships to foreign summer courses. In 2005 she graduated with honors at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where she studied piano and composition. In the meantime she was admitted to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna too, to the media composition and applied music, piano and composition faculties, and since 2013 she is a PhD student there.
Since September 2013 she is teaching composition and film music composition at the composition department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, while at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna she teaches ear training and analysis to the students of the composition and conducting departments.
At the beginning of the 2000s, she used to be a tutor of the singer, string and flute classes of the Austrian Master Classes in Zell an der Pram and of their master classes in Vienna. At the Richter János High School of Music in Győr she was teaching composition, score reading, music theory and orchestration. In 2008 she led the piano class of the Maria Regina Volksschule in Vienna and she was a silent film pianist as well.
Her compositions are performed worldwide in such prestigious concert halls and festivals as the Wien Modern, the Hungarian State Opera House, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Juilliard School in New York, the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival, the Mini Festival, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein Wien, the Muffathalle Munich and the Warsaw Autumn. They are part of the repertoire of Hungarian and foreign bands like the Ensemble Modern, the BBC Symphony Orchestra,{{cite web |title=BBC Symphony Orchestra at Maida Vale |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e59rn3 |publisher=BBC Maida Vale Studios, London |date=19 Jun 2018}} the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra,{{cite web |title=Tanzmusik für Fortgeschrittene |url=https://rso.orf.at/programm/590 |publisher=rso.orf.at |language=German |date=6 October 2017}} the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, the UMZE Ensemble,{{cite web |title=Az UMZE Kamaraegyüttes hangversenye a Budapesti Tavaszi Fesztiválon |url=http://umze.hu/esemenyek/az-umze-kamaraegyuttes-hangversenye-a-budapesti-tavaszi-fesztivalon |website=umze.hu |date=22 March 2010}} the Concerto Budapest, the Ensemble Kontrapunkte,{{cite web |title=Abonnement Konzert2 Kontrapunkte unlimited (11. Dezember 2018) |url=http://www.kontrapunkte.at/kalender/2018/12/abonnement-konzert2-kontrapunkte-unlimited |website=kontrapunkte.at |language=German}} the Riot Ensemble London, the ensemble XX. jahrhundert (eXXj){{cite web |title=Konzert exxj…ensemble XX. jahrhundert |url=https://radiokulturhaus.orf.at/artikel/386379 |website=radiokulturhaus.orf.at |language=German |date=26 August 2014}} and the Hungarian Radio Choir. All of her compositions were commissioned.
She performed on many stages all around the world as a solo pianist and chamber musician. In 2016 her opera, Love, which is an adaptation of the classic film of Tibor Déry, Károly Makk and Péter Bacsó, debuted in the Hungarian State Opera House as part of the memorial year of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. In 2019 she was awarded with the TONALi19 composer award for her piano solo, Pendulum. This also means that said composition will be performed by the participants of the piano competition of the TONALi Festival in the Elbphilharmonie.
Beside contemporary classical music, she is particularly interested in scoring motion pictures and theatre pieces, and in the compositions written for multimedia events. In 2013, when the Prima Primissima Prize has undergone a complete renewal, she was entrusted to design the new musical image. She composed music for more than 30 theatre pieces and films. In 2014 the Academy of Austrian Film awarded best soundtrack to Deine Schönheit ist nichts Wert (Your Beauty is Worth Nothing...). In autumn, the Konzerthaus of Vienna commissioned her to compose new music score for a Bolshevik Soviet propaganda silent film from 1924, The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks.{{cite web |title=brücken17 »Mr. West« |url=http://www.kunsthausmuerz.at/detail.php?id=852 |website=kunsthausmuerz.at |accessdate=23 April 2019 |language=German}} The renewed film premiered in March 2016. Approximately 30% of her work is made up of composing for films.
She is a member of the Hungarian Composers’ Union,{{cite web |title=Varga Judit |url=http://www.hungaropus.hu/memberprofile.php?id=5737&lang=en |publisher=hungaropus.hu |accessdate=23 April 2019}} the Austrian Composers’ Association{{cite web |title=Mitgliederliste > E-Musik > Judit Varga |url=https://www.komponistenbund.at/vargajudit/ |website=komponistenbund.at |accessdate=23 April 2019}} and the Studio 5 composer group. The latter was founded in 2017 and they aim to organize concerts that can bridge tradition and innovation.{{cite web | url=https://lfze.hu/all-programs/2019-03-09-studio-5-composers-evening-8181 | title=Studio 5 Composers' Evening | accessdate=23 April 2019 | publisher=lfze.hu |date=9 March 2019 }}
Main works
= Operas =
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| style="background:#d4e6e5;"
! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| Love |
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| | |
= Orchestral works =
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|+ Compositions for Orchestra |
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! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| I. Piano Concerto
| 1996–1997 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Quasi una cadenza | 2004–2005 |
| Le Temps retrouvé
| 2008 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Concerto Rivolutionario | 2009 |
| Concerto Imaginario
| 2011 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| ...alles Fleisch... – in memoriam Zoltán Gyöngyössy | 2013 |
| Urlicht
| 2015 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| JUMP! | 2017 |
| | |
| class="sortable" style="border-style: solid; border-width: medium; border-color: #d4e6e5;" width="450px"
|+ Compositions for String Orchestra |
| style="background:#d4e6e5;"
! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| Mosar II |
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| Black and White | 2018 |
| Hallgató-Pergető
| 2009–2010 |
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| | |
= Ensemble =
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| style="background:#d4e6e5;"
! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| Schlaflied für Johanna
| 2001 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Berceuse | 2001 |
| Kammerkonzert für Klarinette und Ensemble
| 2003–2004 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| In memoriam J.V. | 2004 |
| Pavane
| 2005 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| ...sweeter than roses... | 2010 |
| Entitas
| 2012 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Speak Low | 2013 |
| 13 Lieder (for bass clarinet and ensemble)
| 2013 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Broken Beauty |
| | |
= Chamber music =
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| style="background:#d4e6e5;"
! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| Auge
| 2001 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Streichquartett II | 2002 |
| ~opra01~
| 2002 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Streichquartett IIB | 2003 |
| Möbiusband
| 2003 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Dialog | 2004 |
| Dialog (2. Version)
| 2004–2005 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Strictly Ballroom I | 2005 |
| Strictly Ballroom III
| 2005 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Klavierquintett | 2007 |
| Dietro la musica
| 2013 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Songs for a Waiting | 2013–2014 |
| Mosar
| 2017 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Puzzle (Black Hole Edition) | 2018 |
| Escapex2
| 2019 |
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| | |
= Vocal music =
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| style="background:#d4e6e5;"
! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| Mégis
| 1998 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Levél | 1999 |
| Harbach
| 2000 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Mad(á)rigál | 2005 |
| The L.I.F.E.
| 2005 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Schlummert ein | 2014 |
| Pocket Requiem
| 2017 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| A Wreath |
| Pie Jesu
| 2018 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| The Night | 2018 |
| #perspektiven:los
| 2019 |
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| | |
= Solo Instrument =
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| style="background:#d4e6e5;"
! width="80%" |Title ! width="20%" |Date |
| Words
| 2005 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| 10 Portraits for Viola | 2010 |
| Barcarole pour Frédéric et George
| 2010 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Sonatine | 2013 |
| 13 Lieder (for bass clarinet and live electronics)
| 2005 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Fanfaren | 2017 |
| Centipede
| 2017 |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| Pendulum | 2019 |
| | |
= Film Scores =
| class="sortable" style="border-style: solid; border-width: medium; border-color: BlanchedAlmond;" width="450px" |
| style="background:BlanchedAlmond;"
! width="55%" |Title ! width="35%" |Nationality, Genre, Producer ! width="10%" |Date |
| Heim[https://vimeo.com/169092025 Heim [2010]] on Lukas Gnaiger's Vimeo channel - 2 June 2016
| {{flagicon|AUT}} Austria{{-}}Short | Drama{{-}}Filmakademie Wien | 2010 |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| Das Pferd auf dem Balkon[http://www.daspferdaufdembalkon.com/ Das Pferd auf dem Balkon] Official Website | {{flagicon|AUT}} Austria{{-}}Drama{{-}}Minifilm | 2012 |
| Deine Schönheit ist nichts Wert[http://www.dor-film.com/filme/deine-schoenheit-ist-nichts-wert Deine Schönheit ist nichts Wert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330172953/http://www.dor-film.com/filme/deine-schoenheit-ist-nichts-wert |date=2019-03-30 }} Official Website{{-}}Güzelliğin On Par'etmez
| {{flagicon|AUT}}{{flagicon|TUR}}Austria Turkey{{-}}Drama{{-}}Dor Film, Filmakademie Wien, MarangozFilm | 2012 |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| {{Ill|Lou Andreas-Salomé, The Audacity to be Free|de|Lou Andreas-Salomé (Film)}}[http://cinemalibrestudio.com/louandreassalomefilm/index.html Lou Andreas-Salomé, The Audacity to be Free] Official Website | {{flagicon|GER}}{{flagicon|AUT}}{{flagicon|ITA}}{{flagicon|Switzerland}}Germany Austria Italy Switzerland{{-}}Biography | Drama | Romance{{-}}Avanti Media Fiction, Tempest Film, KGP Kranzelbinder Gabriele Production | 2015 |
| Mr West{{cite web|url=http://artsrevieweurope.com/blog/2017/01/20/vargas-score-captures-the-silly-seriousness-of-1924/ |title=Varga's Score Captures the Silly Seriousness of 1924 |author=Alexandra Ivanoff |date=20 January 2017 |publisher=artsrevieweurope.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314042516/http://artsrevieweurope.com/blog/2017/01/20/vargas-score-captures-the-silly-seriousness-of-1924/ |archivedate=14 March 2018 }}
| {{flagicon|Soviet Union|15}}{{flagicon|AUT}}Soviet Union, Austria{{-}}Silent movie | Comedy{{-}}Vienna Konzerthaus | 2016{{-}}(eredeti: 1924) |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| The Legend of the Ugly King | {{flagicon|GER}}{{flagicon|AUT}} Germany, Austria{{-}}Documentary | Biography{{-}}Mitosfilm, Aichholzer Filmproduktion, MarangozFilm | 2017 |
| Gypsy Queen
| {{flagicon|GER}}{{flagicon|AUT}} Germany, Austria{{-}}Drama | Sport{{-}}Dor Film-West Produktionsgesellschaft, Dor Film Produktionsgesellschaft, ARTE | (completed) |
| style="background:Lavender;"
| | | |
= Dance Theatre Music =
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| style="background:#f9edd0;"
! width="50%" |Title ! width="10%" |Premiere ! width="35%" |Theatre |
| 7 Encounters[http://www.valerieklein.at/down/Klangkoerper-7encounters.pdf 7 Encounters] Playbill, valerieklein.at
| 2010 | Palais Kabelwerk, Vienna |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| | | |
= Theatre Music =
| class="sortable" style="border-style: solid; border-width: medium; border-color: #F9EDBF;" width="450px" |
| style="background:#F9EDBF;"
! width="50%" |Title ! width="10%" |Premiere ! width="35%" |Theatre |
| Bertolt Brecht:{{-}}Man is Man
| 1998 | |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| August Strindberg, Friedrich Dürrenmatt:{{-}}Play Strindberg! | 2001 | Éjszakai Theatre, Budapest |
| Zoltán Egressy:{{-}}Vesztett éden
| 2003 | Pinceszínház (Cellar Theater), Budapest |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| Anton Chekhov:{{-}}The Seagull | 2004 | István Örkény Theatre, Budapest |
| Sándor Márai:{{-}}Fizess nevetve[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWkf4212pw Fizess nevetve!] On Gábor Gergely Veres's YouTube channel - 12 November 2012
| 2008 | Éjszakai Theatre and Pinceszínház (Cellar Theater), Budapest |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| Sándor Márai:{{-}}Portraits of a Marriage - The real thing | 2009 | Pinceszínház (Cellar Theater), Budapest |
| Leonid Zorin:{{-}}A Warsaw Melody
| 2010 | Pinceszínház (Cellar Theater), Budapest |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| Géza Csáth:{{-}}A Pertics Janika | 2011 | Pinceszínház (Cellar Theater), Budapest |
| Robert Thomas:{{-}}Trap for a Single Man (Szegény Dániel)
| 2012 | Karinthy Színház, Budapest |
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
| Niels Peter Juel Larsen:{{-}}Blixen bárónő szerelmei{{cite web |title=Blixen bárónő szerelmei A Cultura Magazin cikke csak engedéllyel másolható. |url=https://cultura.hu/kultura/blixen-barono-szerelmei/ |publisher=cultura.hu |language=Hungarian |date=23 March 2014}} | 2014 | Centrál Színház, Budapest |
| |
| |
Discography
| class="sortable" border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid; border-width: medium;" width="95%" | |||
| style="background:#eaeafa;"
|+Singles !width="60%"| Album !width="10%"| Publisher !width="5%"| Year !width="25%"| Other | |||
| | Lou Andreas-Salome[https://open.spotify.com/album/0HubyoGhsyJAY2zn9hwKyi Lou Andreas-Salome (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) By Judit Varga], open.spotify.com | Avanti | 2016 | Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
Awards
- 1st prize – Franz Liszt Academy of Music (LFZE) Composer Competition, Budapest (1998)
- 1st prize – LFZE Composer Competition, Budapest (1999)
- SKE Special Award – Social and cultural support from austro mechana - SKE Fonds, Vienna (2003)
- 2st prize – LFZE Composer Competition, Budapest (2003)
- 2st prize – LFZE Composer Competition, Budapest (2004)
- Special Award – Liszt Ferenc International Piano Competition, Pécs (2005)
- Dryard Prize – Vienna International Pianists Academy, Vienna (2006)[http://www.pianists.at/viptermine2006.html VIP Academy 2006], VIP-Preisträger, pianists.at
- Theodor Körner Prize (2009)
- 1st prize, Orchestra category – UMZF Composer Competition, Budapest (2009)
- State scholarship – BMUKK (Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur), Vienna (2010)[https://www.kunstkultur.bka.gv.at/documents/340047/639816/kunstbericht_2010.pdf Kunstbericht2011], kunstkultur.bka.gv.at
- 2st prize, Orchestra category – New Hungarian Music Forum (UMZF) Composer Competition, Budapest (2011)
- Special Award – Ö1 Talentebörse-Kompositionspreis, Vienna (2012)
- Winner of the „Woher? Wohin? Mythen, Nation, Identitäten“ tender – Goethe-Institut, Ensemble Modern, Frankfurt (2012)
- Film Prize nominee, Best Soundtrack – 49. International Antalya Film Festival (2012)
- Film Prize nominee, Best Soundtrack – Austrian Film Academy (2013)
- Staatsstipendium – BMUKK (Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur), Vienna (2014)[https://www.kunstkultur.bka.gv.at/documents/340047/639816/Kunstbericht_2014.pdf Kunstbericht2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330194457/https://www.kunstkultur.bka.gv.at/documents/340047/639816/Kunstbericht_2014.pdf |date=2019-03-30 }}, kunstkultur.bka.gv.at
- Film Prize, Best Soundtrack – Austrian Film Academy (Deine Schönheit ist nichts Wert, 2014)
- Winner of the Hungarian State Opera House's tender for the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956., Budapest (Love, 2016)
- Bartók Béla–Pásztory Ditta Prize (2017)
- „Call for scores” winner of the Riot Ensemble (Broken Beauty, 2018)[http://riotensemble.com/composers/2018-2 Call for Scores 2018] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331192755/http://riotensemble.com/composers/2018-2 |date=2019-03-31 }}, riotensemble.com - 2018.
- Erkel Ferenc Prize (2018){{cite web |url=http://www.kormany.hu/hu/emberi-eroforrasok-miniszteriuma/hirek/balog-zoltan-allami-muveszeti-es-miniszteri-szakmai-dijakat-adott-at2018 |title=Balog Zoltán állami művészeti és miniszteri szakmai díjakat adott át (Zoltán Balog handed over Public Art and Ministerial Awards)|accessdate=23 April 2019 |publisher=kormany.hu |date=13 March 2018 |language=Hungarian }}
- Istvánffy Benedek Prize (Pocket Requiem, 2018){{cite web |title=Varga Judit kapta az Istvánffy Benedek-díjat |url=https://fidelio.hu/klasszikus/varga-judit-kapta-az-istvanffy-benedek-dijat-139831.html |publisher=fidelio.hu |accessdate=23 April 2019 |date=9 October 2018}}
- TONALi Prize – Tonali Classical Music Competition and Festival (Pendulum, 2019)
References
{{Reflist|2}}
- {{Official website|http://www.juditvarga.com}}
- {{IMDb name | 4972751 }}
- [https://info.bmc.hu/index.php?node=artists&table=SZERZO&id=251 Judit Varga], Budapest Music Center, info.bmc.hu
- [http://db.musicaustria.at/en/node/81991 Judit Varga], Music Information Center Austria (mica) Music Database, db.musicaustria.at
- [https://lfze.hu/teaching-staff/varga-judit-1472 Judit Varga] in Teaching Staff, Liszt Academy, lfze.hu
- {{cite journal |last=Rácz |first=Judit | title="...de sosem merted megkérdezni" – Fiatal zeneszerzők a foglalkozásukról |journal =MagyarNarancs |date=17 October 2013 |volume =25 |issue =42 |url=https://magyarnarancs.hu/zene2/de-sosem-merted-megkerdezni-fiatal-zeneszerzok-a-foglalkozasukrol-87007 |language=Hungarian }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Hollós |first=Máté |title=Szerzők bontakozóban |journal=Muzsika |date=January 2015 |volume=58 |issue=1 |url=http://www.muzsikalendarium.hu/muzsika/index.php?area=article&id_article=3984 |language=Hungarian |access-date=2019-04-23 |archive-date=2019-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329171856/http://www.muzsikalendarium.hu/muzsika/index.php?area=article&id_article=3984 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web | url=http://nemzetiifjusagikorus.hu/national-youth-choir-of-hungary/ | title=National Youth Choir of Hungary: community, quality, life-long memories - The composers of the premiere works |accessdate=23 April 2019 | date=17 August 2018 | publisher=National Youth Choir of Hungary (nemzetiifjusagikorus.hu) }}
- {{cite web | url=https://www.tonali.de/personen/judit-varga/ | title=Judit Varga - TONALi19 Kompositionspreis-Gewinnerin | accessdate=23 April 2019 | date=January 2019 | publisher=tonali.de |language=German }}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/juditvarga YouTube Profile of Judit Varga]
- Andrea Kolozsvári: [https://web.archive.org/web/20190331181404/http://musicianswho.hu/mw2015!/2017/03/28/varga-judit-es-takacs-nagy-gabor-kapta-a-bartok-pasztory-dijat/ Varga Judit és Takács-Nagy Gábor kapta a Bartók-Pásztory-díjat] (Judit Varga and Gábor Takács-Nagy have been awarded the Bartók-Pásztory Prize), musicianswho.hu – 28 March 2017. (In Hungarian)
- [https://online.mdw.ac.at/mdw_online/visitenkarte.show_vcard?pPersonenId=4158DF0D82A3290D&pPersonenGruppe=3 Visitenkarte von Judit Varga Mag.art.] MDWonline - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, (28 March 2019.) (In German)
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20190329003135/https://mdw.ac.at/internationalblog/author/judit-varga/ Author: Judit Varga], International experiences at & with the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (28 March 2019.) (In German)
- [http://studio5-music.com/en/ http://studio5-music.com]
{{Commons category|Judit Varga}}
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Category:Hungarian women composers