László Fassang

László Fassang (born December 12, 1973, Budapest) Hungarian organist, pianist and improviser.

Biography

Fassang was born into a family immersed in music. He started his organ studies at the age of 13 and graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1998. The same year he enrolled in the organ class of Olivier Latry at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1999 Fassang got also accepted to the improvised music department where he studied under Loic Mallié, Philippe Lefebvre, Thierry Escaich and Jean-François Zygel.

As part of his studies he spent a sabbatical year in Japan, where he became the resident organist of the Sapporo Concert Hall. During that time, he performed several concerts in Japan, and recorded his first organ CD on the Kern organ at Sapporo Concert Hall that included music of Bach and Liszt as well as his own improvisations. Since 2002 he has performed concerts in Europe, Japan and in the USA.

In 2003 and 2004 Fassang graduated from the Conservatoire with excellent results. Recently he has divided his time between Hungary and Spain, where he teaches improvisation at the Musikene (Higher Academy of Music of the Basque Country) in San Sebastián. He was responsible for supervising the construction of the organ of the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall and was appointed artistic consultant of the organ concerts of the Palace of Arts in Budapest in 2006. His improvisational style demonstrates the versatility of the organ through the incorporation of jazz and folk music influences.

Main awards

* 2006: Liszt Ferenc Prize; Prima Prize
* 2004: Grand Prix de Chartres International Organ Competition - Grand Prize and "Audience Choice"
* 2003: First German-French International Organ Competition (Windesheim) - Second Prize (tie) and Special Prize for best interpretation of French works
* 2002: Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition - Improvisation Gold Medal
* 2002: 4th International Competition of the City of Paris - Second Prize of improvisation and Duruflé Prize
* 1998: Győr International Organ Competition (Hungary) - Second Prize
* 1993: Zoltán Gárdonyi Memorial Competition (Budapest) - First Prize

Discography

* [http://www.orpheia.hu/record_label/the_course_of_the_moon Fassang László – Vincent Le Quang: The Course of the Moon, 2007 Orpheia]
* [http://disques.intrada.fr/catalogue/fiche_disque.php?ref=INTRA024 László Fassang plays the grand organ of the Cathedral Notre-Dame Chartres, 2005 INTRADA]

External links

* [http://www.fassang.hu/ László Fassang's official homepage]
* [http://www.fassang.orpheia.hu/set_index_en László Fassang at orpheia.hu]