Robert Nagy

Robert Nagy was born in 1966 in Makó (Hungary). He started playing the cello at the age of 7. By age 12 he was already the winner of the National Cello Competition of Young Musicians in his native country. His teachers were at the Academy of Music in Budapest Csaba Onczay and Miklós Perényi, then later at the University of Music in Vienna, Wolfgang Herzer. 1988 he won the David Popper cello competition and in 1989 he was awarded the international Florian-Prize in Venice.

His career as an orchestral musician began with the Gustav Mahler Youth-Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado, where he became principal cellist. Later on he was principal cellist of the "Lower Austrian Tonkünstler-Orchester" for two years. Since 1992 he has been member of the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (i.e. the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra). In 2005 he became principal cellist of this orchestra.

Since his early successes in various competitions Robert Nagy has often performed concerts in international concert halls. His numerous CD-recordings include first-recordings and well known works, such as the cello-concert by Dvorak (live recording).

There is a close connection between his activities as soloist and those as chamber-musician. During his studies in this area he was substantially supported by Sándor Devich and György Kurtág. He regularly takes part in both domestic and international festivals, often with his wife, Eva Kardos, with whom he is forming a cello-piano-duo. They also appear as part of various other chamber-music ensembles.

Since 2009 he has been Professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.