Andras Ligeti was born in Pecs, Hungary in 1953 and studied violin and conducting at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. He won 1st Prize at the Leo Weiner Violin Competition and in 1980 at the Bloomington. He graduated in 1979 as conductor and was awarded the Sir Georg Solti Scholarship, studying with Osterreicher in Vienna and later with Igor Markevich.

In 1985 he became Associate Conductor to the Budapest Symphony, succeeding Gyorgy Lehel as Chief Conductor in 1989, a position he held until 1993, when he became Chief Guest. With the Budapest Symphony he gave tours to Great Britain, Japan and Korea, and the orchestra’s first visit to Australia in 1994. In 1997 he became the Music Director of the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra.

Worldwide he has conducted a number of major orchestras, including the Dresden Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony, BBC Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic (including a tour to France), Israel Philharmonic, Bergen Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Sapporo & Nagoya Philharmonics, Nouvelle Orchestre de Paris, Academia Santa Cecilia and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

He has enjoyed a close relationship with Claudio Abbado, beginning when he worked with Abbado and the Mahler Youth Orchestra; at Abbado’s invitation he has conducted concerts and opera at the Wien Modern during the 90’s.

He has recorded many CDs, especially of Hungarian music, for companies such as BMG Conifer, Naxos, Hungaraton and Radioton, as well as numerous recordings for radio and television worldwide. With the Budapest Sinfonietta, drawn from the Symphony, he has conducted and recorded a considerable repertoire of 20th Century music.

Andras Ligeti was with the Budapest State Opera between 1977 and 1985, firstly as concertmaster then as Chief Conductor, where he performed much of the central repertoire. He also conducted at Saarbrucken. In 1998 he made his UK operatic début with a new production of ‘Carmen’ for Opera North, directed by Phyllida Lloyd. In 1999 he also gave acclaimed performances of ‘Damnation of Faust’ at the Perth Festival with the West Australian Symphony. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the WASO and returned to Belfast for concerts with the Ulster Orchestra. He returned to the English Northern Philharmonia in 2003 and conducted again in Belfast. In 2004 he conducted performances of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ and ‘Miraculous Mandarin’ in London and he returned to the Orchestra of Opera North last year. Last year's highlights included a tour of the US with the Budapest Symphony.

June 2008