Curriculum Vitae

I was born on July 20, 1938 in Vác, Hungary. I began to learn music as a pupil in primary school in Vác. My first significant music tutor was the composer Tibor Pikéthy, organist at the Vác Cathedral.

In 1953 I enrolled in the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest, where I studied organ with János Hammerschlag, Kálmán Halász, Ferenc Gergely, and composition with Rezső Sugár.

In 1958, I enrolled in the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy, where I studied organ with Sebestyén Pécsi and composition with Endre Szervánszky. I earned a degree summa cum laude in organ in 1963 and a degree in composition in 1966.

I appeared as organ soloist with the National Philharmonic Society in 1963. Since then, I regularly gave concerts in Hungary. Since 1965, I have also performed in foreign countries, having given concerts in every European country. I have been most often invited to perform in Germany, France and the former Soviet Union.

I gave concerts  in the Notre-Dame and the Saint Germain-des-Pres Churches in Paris. I often returned to these places thanks to the kind invitations of the Festival Estival.

My visits to the southern part of France represents the most crucial impact on my life. I first concertized in Grignan as part of the Avignon Festival, to which I was always invited during the past two decades. The time I had spent at the festival represents the peak experiences of my artistic life. I attributes this to the lovely landscapes and rich history of this small town, the beauty of the church with its not-too-large but splendid nineteen register organ and the people I have met there with whom I established relationships. Influenced by these visits, I began to compose music again in 1979 and since presented many of my own organ works in Grignan.

I had a decades-long human and professional  relationship with organist and choir master Josef Bekmanns, who I visited several times in Germany. Due to this contact many noteworthy concerts were given in Hungary and in Germany.

In 1969 I became organ instructor at the Béla Bartók Conservatory. Since 1975, I have been teaching at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy where I’m Professor of Organ. Since 1965, I made nearly fifty recordings for Hungaroton.

2007 Vác

GÁBOR LEHOTKA

Since 1993, 15 works of Gábor Lehotka has been edited by musical editors in the USA, Germany and France, and another 8 works has been edited by hungarian editors. Gábor Lehotka was Professor of Organ at the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest  until his retirement in 2008.

He died after a long illness in his hometown, Vác, on December 29, 2009.

Vác, 1 September 2010

László Lehotka