Prof. András Deák

Principal conductor of DSO

 

András Deák was born in Budapest. He studied piano and composition at the Béla Bartók Vocational Secondary School for Music and then graduated at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest under famous Hungarian and foreign professors including Ervin Lukács, Franco Ferrara, and Péter Eötvös. In 1983 he received his first diploma in choral conducting in 1986 his second diploma in orchestral conducting

From 1985-91 he was Music Director of the Salgótarján Symphony Orchestra, and he has been the principal Conductor of the Danube Symphony Orchestra since 1991. In 1995 Mr. Deák was named one of Hungary’s best conductors in the Hungarian Television’s János Ferencsik International Conductor’s Competition. In his native country he regularly performs on radio and television. In 1997 and in 2006 he recorded two CDs with the Danube Symphony Orchestra. Since 1995 he has been the leading conductor of the “Danube Concert” classical music series in Budapest, which is aimed to help foreign visitors to gain an insight into the rich and historic music culture of Hungary. Since 2000 he has been one of the leading guest conductors of the “Salute to Vienna” concert series, which is the only North American New Year’s Concert officially endorsed by the City of Vienna. Over the years he has appeared in many major cities and prestigious concert halls with leading orchestras, such as at the Jack Singers Hall in Calgary with the Calgary Philharmonic, the prestigious Kravis Center in West Palm Beach and the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale with the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, in Baltimore and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC with the Baltimore Symphony and in Chicago with the famous Chicago Civic Opera Orchestra. He also conducted the “Salute to Vienna” concerts at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and most recently at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the San Diego Symphony in January 2014. 2008 was marked Maestro Deak’s New York debut at Lincoln Center and his Philadelphia debut at the Kimmel Center for “Salute to Vienna”.  

As a result of his successful debut in Chicago with the “Salute to Vienna” concert in 2006, he has been invited back as guest conductor by the Chicago Philharmonic.

In addition to his many appearances in the US and Canada Maestro Deák is regularly guest conducting in Finland, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Israel, Austria, Mexico, Bulgaria, Russia, Poland.

 

The year 2006 also marks his Vienna debut at the famous Musikverein conducting the Vienna Mozart Orchestra on several occasions and he has been a returning guest conductor since then.

For his internationally known artistic contribution to fine music making, Maestro Deak has been awarded Hungary’s prestigious Decoration of Knight’s Cross Order in 2004.