Klara Würtz

     Klara Würtz was born in 1965 in Budapest, Hungary and started playing the piano at the age of 5. As a child she soon showed an exceptional talent for this instrument. Therefore, her career started in the early seventies, when she became a member of the Hungarian Children’s Choir of Radio and Television. As the pianist of the Choir, she performed musical intermezzos during tours in Japan, Greece, Italy, Austria and Romania. At the age of 14, Ms. Würtz was admitted at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy, where she studied at the faculty for the exceptionally gifted children with Mrs. Máthé. After her seventeenth birthday, she was taught by Zoltán Kocsis, , Ferenc Rados, György Kurtág. Later on, she received scholarships from András Schiff for his masterclasses in Prussia Cove, England. In 1985 she won the Ettore Pozzoli piano competition in Milan. Ms. Würtz was praised by the jury, not only for her superior technical command, but also for her extraordinary sensitivity towards the music and her many charismatic qualities, which gave a very intense personal and individual impression.
     Three years later, she came into the prizes at the International Piano Competition in Dublin, Ireland, where she performed Schubert’s Sonata in Bf. Ms. Würtz passed with distinction as a performing artist and a music pedagogue at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. In 1991, Ms. Würtz signed up with Columbia Artists Management, New York, and since then has performed over a hundred concerts in the United States and Canada. Her most successful recitals were in the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. and at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. She performed with various orchestras throughout America, such as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jirî Belohlavek, and soloists from Warsaw. She also performed at the piano festival in La Roque d’Anthéron in  the South of France, in the small auditorium of the Concert Hall in Amsterdam, and in Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Indonesia (1998). Furthermore, she played with the Chamber Festival Orchestra of Budapest, The Brabant Chamber Orchestra and the Arion Ensemble. In addition, she made many recordings for French, American, Hungarian and Dutch radio and television. In 1997, Ms. Würtz formed a successful duo with the Israeli cellist Ms. Timora Rosler, member of the Amsterdam Pianotrio (with Joan Berkhemer, violin, and Nadia David, cello). As a duo, Ms Würtz and Ms. Rosler became prizewinners at the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanisetta, Sicily. At the moment Ms. Würtz lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.