Rodrigo Puskás
Hungarian-born concert violinist Rodrigo Puskás has been considered one of the most exciting young violinists of his generation. Winner of several national and international competitions, he has performed in over 20 countries as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He has appeared in concerts and recitals at major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Young Artist International in Los Angeles, Saint Huber Festival of Belgium, International Festival of Bayreuth, Holland Music Sessions in the Netherlands, European String Festival of Ireland, International Academy of Russia, Chateau sur Marne in France, the Nagano and Yokosuka festivals in Japan, and the Leopold Auer Festival of Hungary. He has also performed at the Grand Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy, the National Radio Marble Hall in Budapest, the prestigious Hall of the Composers Union in St. Petersburg (Russia) and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Rodrigo Puskás was admitted to the class of concert violinist Dénes Kovács at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music at the age of 11. When he was 20, he moved to the United States, for further study with Eduard Schmieder at the Meadows School of Music and Arts, SMU in Dallas. He was a six-time recipient of the Meadows Foundation Performing Arts Scholarship, winner of the prestigious Neimann Marcus Scholarship Award and recipient of a career grant from the International Soros Foundation. At Southern Methodist University he received another postgraduate Artist Diploma and a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance.
Puskás was has been the winner of the first prize at the Budapest Young Artist Competition, the Budapesti Szemle, the Budapest National Violin Contest, the János Koncz International Violin Competition, the Ruggiero Ricci masterclasses competition, the Béla Bartók Chamber Music Competition, the Nagano International Music Competition (2nd), the MCPAS Artists’ Competition (also the Audience Prize) and the Entergy Music Competition. His teachers of most influence were Eduard Schmieder, Emanuel Borok, Dénes Kovács, Ruggiero Ricci, Sándor Devich and the late Vilmos Tátrai. He also studied with Igor Ozim, Miklós Szenthelyi, Ferenc Rados and Lászlo Kóté. His orchestral career started at the age of 15, on the invitation of Maestro Erich Bergel. He toured with the Budapest Philharmonic and the Hungarian National Opera Orchestra several times as their youngest guest member. He has held concertmaster positions in several orchestras, such as the Meadows Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic, Utah Festival Opera Orchestra, I-Palpiti Chamber Orchestra, IPAC Symphony Orchestra, Franz Liszt Academy Symphony, and has worked as acting concertmaster in the Irving Symphony, Plano Symphony, Plano Chamber Orchestra, Garland/Las Colinas and Arlington Symphony Orchestra. He also performs with the Dallas Opera Orchestra and has been concertmaster of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea since March 2005.
Rodrigo Puskás has been pioneering performances of music by contemporary composers and has premiered several works written specially for or dedicated to him, most recently a work by American composer Kevin Hanlon: “Blues for Nick” (aka. Niccolò Paganini). Having always been strongly interested in chamber music, Rodrigo regularly performs with several ensembles. He was a founding member and violinist for two major music groups, performing both standard classical and “new-classical” repertoire. He has also been active in playing for non-profit organisations, most notably and with great success in support of Interfaith, to raise funds for relief efforts after the 2004 Florida hurricane. He has also given concerts in Japan in collaboration with violinist Victor Pikaizen benefiting handicapped children.
Rodrigo Puskás has been a featured artist on “The Front Row,” a classical music programme on Houston’s KUHF Radio. His performances from the Beverly Hills Public Library and the Los Angeles Museum of Art were broadcast live on the West Coast on KUSC, and performed/recorded extensively for the national Bartók Rádió station in Hungary. Each year he performs in a concert series sponsored by the Hungarian Society of Musical Art, and he has been a permanent soloist of the Hungarian Broadcast Network since he was 18.