Gál-Tamási, Mária

Mária Gál-Tamási was born in Cluj Napoca. She started to play the violin at the age of 6 under Ferenc Balogh Sr. After a few years she continued her studies with Péter Zsurka. She graduated as a violinist from the Gh. Dima Academy of Music, and studied with András Ágoston, Ferdinánd Weisz and Stefan Gheorghiu (Bucharest). During her academic years she participated in the master classes of Oleg Krysa and Wolfgang Marschner in Weimar. She was awarded prizes and won several competitions and Romanian National Competitions. After graduation she was the first violinist in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Satu Mare and in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Brasov. After leaving Romania and settling down in Hungary, she was the concert master of the Honvéd Symphony Orchestra and participated in the productions of the Budapest Chamber Opera. Meanwhile She was also a member of the Camerata Transilvanica Chamber Orchestra. She joined the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1994, and has performed as their soloist on several occasions. She regularly plays at concerts of chamber orchestras. She has made several radio and CD recordings and in 2005 and 2015 was one of the winners of the BFO's Sándor Végh Competition.