LÁSZLÓ FASSANG

Biography

Having won several prizes at major international organ competitions since 2002, László Fassang has quickly established himself as a major young talent in the international organ world. Most recently he was the 2004 winner of the coveted Grand Prix de Chartres. He also was the 2002 Improvisation Gold Medal winner at the Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition (August 2002), and the winner of the Deuxieme Grand Prix d’improvisation as well as the Duruflé prize at the 4th International Competition of the City of Paris (November 2002). In 2006 he got the Liszt Ferenc Prize awarded by the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture and the Prima Prize awarded by the National Association of Entrepreneurs.

A native of Budapest, László Fassang was born into a musical family and began to study the organ at age of 13 under the tutelage of István Baróti. He graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1998, having studied piano under Ilona Prunyi and organ with István Ruppert. Mr. Fassang then entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied organ with Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard, as well as improvisation under Loïc Mallié, Philippe Lefebvre, Thierry Escaich and Jean-François Zygel. In 1993, he won first prize at the Zoltán Gárdonyi Memorial Competition in Budapest, and in 1998 took second prize at the Győr International Organ Competition in Hungary. In 2003 he received shared second prize at the First German-French International Organ Competition in Windesheim and special prize for French works best interpretation.

In 2000, Mr. Fassang took a one-year sabbatical to become the resident organist at the Sapporo Concert Hall in Japan. During that time, he performed several concerts in Japan, and recorded a CD on the Kern organ at Sapporo Concert Hall that included music of Bach and Liszt as well as his own improvisations. Since 2002 he has performed concerts in Europe, Japan and in the USA.

Mr. Fassang currently divides his time between Hungary and Spain, where he teaches improvisation at the Musikene in San Sebastian. He was responsible for supervising the construction of the organ of the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall (Budapest) and was appointed artistic consultant of the organ concerts of the Palace of Arts (Budapest) in 2006. On his single CD, which was issued in 2005 and recorded on the organ of the Cathedral of Chartres, he plays the works of Bach, Liszt and some French composers. Performances by Mr. Fassang are especially interesting because his improvisational style demonstrates the versatility of the organ through the incorporation of jazz and folk music influences.

Current as of February 2007