Zsigmond Szathmary

Zsigmond Szathmáry is a Hungarian organist, pianist, and composer who was born in Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary, in 1939. He achieved professional recognition after winning first prize in the Budapest Organ Competition (1960) and is famous for his advocacy of avant-garde organ music and for performing about 120 premières. Szathmáry studied at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest before pursuing post-graduate training under Helmut Walcha in Frankfurt and Alois Forer in Vienna. He served as the Kantor and organist at the Bremen Cathedral between 1976 and 1978 and was appointed professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 1978. His discography includes the performer recordings Organ Improvisations (1983) and Hungarian Contemporary Organ Music (2000). He has collaborated with composers including György Ligeti and Peter Ruzicka. Szathmáry received the Bach-Prize Stipend from Hamburg in 1972 and the Franz Liszt Badge in 1987.