ABOUT
A recently inaugurated faculty member of the Tianjin Juilliard School, GERGELY ITTZÉS is one of the most proactive personalities of the flute scene. His vast repertoire includes all the important works written for his instrument and a great number of rarities from past centuries as well as today. He is also known as one of the most advanced researchers of his instrument and a composer of many experimental flute works applying the most up-to-date flute techniques, especially polyphonic playing. He has also enriched the flute repertoire with numerous transcriptions. In addition to classical and modern music, several other styles have also influenced his musical idiom, like jazz and free improvisation.
Born in Hungary and graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Mr. Ittzés has given concerts and led master classesin most of the European countries, as well as in Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States, being invited here by the most prestigious institutions such as Juilliard, Manhattan School, Mannes, Eastman, Oberlin, Yale, NEC, etc. Numerous composers have dedicated works to him. He gave the first performance of Anthony Newman’s Flute Concerto at the Budapest Spring Festival in 2005; in 2018 he premiered two new concerti composed for him by Levente Gyöngyösi and Szilárd Mezei, respectively. He has been invited to perform at the major international flute festivals (Beijing, Brazília, Paris, New York, Manchester, Freiburg, and many others) and debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2014. In addition to his solo career Ittzés is an active chamber musician. He is a founding member of the UMZE Chamber Ensemble, Hungary's leading contemporary music group, and of the TeTraVERSI flute quartet. He has worked together with Magdalena Kožena, David Grimal, Anthony Newman, Heinz Holliger, Carol Wincenc, Péter Eötvös, Peter Frankl, Alastair Willis, Hiroko Sasaki, Scott Ballantyne, Tamás Vásáry, Miklós Perényi, Zoltán Kocsis, the Amadinda Percussion Group, Barnabás Kelemen, Kristóf Baráti, Péter Nagy, Dénes Várjon, and has appeared as soloist for the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Austrian-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, Toronto Sinfonietta, Katowice Philharmony, Bach Works New York, Huntsville Symphony, and other ensembles. He has performed improvisatory music together with Markus Stockhausen, Emil Viklický, Don Thompson, Leni Stern, Szilárd Mezei, as well as others, and for ten years he was a member and composer of the etno-jazzrock group Talizmán. With graphic artist Jenő Lévay they have created experimental interdisciplinary performances like "Drumming Pencils" and "Breathing Light" in which improvised music and spontaneously generated visuality cooperate in a close interaction. More
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