Gregor Piatigorsky’s autobiographical book entitled Cellist could also be read as a characterisation of Eszter Karasszon’s life and travels. Despite her young age cellist Eszter Karasszon has given concerts in several European countries including the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, and she has also performed in China, Israel and USA. As the youngest competitor, she already won an award at her first Hungarian national cello competition as early as at the age of eight. Since then she has won awards at numerous Hungarian and national competitions, her last award being her first place at David Popper International Cello Competition in 2015. She graduated with honours from Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 2016. Apart from her solo carrier, Eszter Karasszon also has a history of successful chamber music performances: she and her musician partners won the first prize at Ernő Dohnányi Chamber Music Competition in 2013. In fact, chamber music and solo performances are not separated in her life: she believes all music is essentially chamber music. She regularly performs together with Vilmos Szabadi, including joint performances in China and a recent one in New York. Lately she has been entangled in Shostakovich’s music, which is also reflected by the fact that she played Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 at her graduation concert held in Franz Liszt Academy of Music’s Grand Hall. Her repertoire emphatically features works by 20th century and contemporary Hungarian composers including Kodály, Bartók, Dohnányi, Vajda and Gárdonyi. She is attracted by any event during which she can bring over-mystified classical music closer to her audiences. She firmly believes that good music is found not only in concert halls: beautiful tunes should ideally be present everywhere in the world.

Mira Farkas comes from a family of musicians and she never thought twice about becoming a musician herself. Specialising in harp, she graduated with honours from Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 2014. She gives solo, orchestra and chamber music performances and such shows mutually reinforce one another in her professional life. As a member of MAV Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Budapest and other renowned orchestras, she has recently gained professional experience under the supervision of conductors like Zoltán Kocsis, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi and Ádám Fischer. The age of Romanticism falls closest to her character and personality as a harp music performer, and in her interpretation Romanticism’s passionateness and extreme emotions represent the highlights of harp music. If she plays chamber music, she herself prepares the required adaptations from the majority of the musical pieces concerned. Apart from playing the cello, the violin and the flute, she also plays music with her sister forming an ordinary duo of harp and zymbalon players. An outstanding professional recognition for Mira Farkas has been her Junior Prima Award, which she won in 2014 in the category “Hungarian musical art”. Apart from Hungary, she has given concerts in several countries; and due to her Junior Prima Award, she was able to travel to Israel, where she gave a solo concert in both Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. In 2016 she was granted Annie Fischer Scholarship for Performers.

D'Hervelois: Suite in D Minor
Bruch: Kol Nidrei, Op. 47
G. F. Händel: Prelude and Toccata
Bach: Cello Suite in C Major – Movements
Franz Liszt: Love Dream
Vivaldi: Cello Sonata in B Major, RV 46
Fauré: Impromptu
Cassado: Sonata for Solo Cello – 3rd Movement
Lorenzi: Elegia
Piazzola: Café 1930

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