Tibor Varga

Tibor Varga (July 4, 1921 in Györ, Hungary – September 4, 2003 in Grimisuat, near Sion, Switzerland) was a Hungarian violinist and conductor.

Tibor Varga was born in Györ, Hungary in 1921, the birth place of violin greats Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer and Carl Flesch. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Carl Flesch and Jenö Hubay. He made his first public appearance at the age of six and performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the age of 10 and made his first recordings at the age of 13. He began touring Europe when he was 14.

He moved to London in 1947, where he became a British citizen.

He had an extensive recording career with numerous labels. A recording of the Bartok Violin Concerto no. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Ferenc Fricsay is now legendary. Varga collaborated with eminent conductors such as Ernest Ansermet, Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, Pierre Boulez, Ferenc Fricsay, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Igor Markevitch, Georg Solti and others. He performed with the greatest orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra London, and the Berlin Philharmonic. He also recorded profically for Deutsche Grammophon and EMI.

Tibor Varga gave the premières of violin concertos by Béla Bartók, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg throughout Europe and other continents. Ernst Krenek, Max Méreaux, Matyas Seiber, Jose de Almeida Prado and other composers dedicated works to him. Writing to Varga about a performance of his Violin Concerto, Arnold Schönberg wrote : "I wish to be younger to be able to write more music for you." His conducting career led to the establishment of a chamber orchestra bearing his name in Detmold, Germany, in 1954 as well as that of the Festival Orchestra Tibor Varga in Sion. He also co-founded at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold a now-famous string department with cellist André Navarra and violists Bruno Giuranna and Nobuko Imai.

In 1955, Tibor Varga settled in Switzerland, though maintaining his position in Detmold. In 1964, he founded the Tibor Varga Festival in Sion, the capital of the Canton of Valais in Switzerland, and founded an International Academy of Music in connection with it, specializing in interpretation (or "master") classes for accomplished young players conducted by leading soloists during the summer. In a typical year, the International Academy draws around 400 students to attend about 25 master classes. In addition, he added to the festival the annual International Violin Competition, one of the most prestigious of annual violin competitions, which attracts over 100 entrants a year. Previous winners include Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Vadim Repin and Mirijam Contzen.

In 1984, Varga founded a string music department at the Conservatory of Sion. In 1991, this organization, under the name École Supérieure de Musique, separated from the Sion Conservatory to join the Fondation de l'Académie de Musique in Sion. The municipality of Sion put a magnificent older building at the disposal of the school. Within one year of the founding of the school, a leading music educator proclaimed the Varga school as "one of the three best professional violin academies in Europe." In 1998, it became a completely independent entity under the auspices of his own Foundation. In 2002 the École Supérieure de Musique merged with the Conservatory of Sion and became the Conservatoire Supérieur et Académie de Musique Tibor Varga. From its existence until 2002 Tibor Varga remained its director. It is a full time school specializing in string instrument training. About 50 students, from eight to twenty-five in age, are generally enrolled. Numerous graduates of the school are soloists, concertmasters, and members of leading international-class orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Dresden, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and many others. The first female member to be admitted to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was a student of Varga.

Tibor Varga died at his home in Grimisuat in Switzerland on September 4, 2003. He and his wife Judith, who predeceased him, had two children. Gilbert Varga, his son, is a noted conductor, and his daughter Susan Rybicki-Varga is a cellist and teacher.