Éva Polgár is a sought after recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, educator, and adjudicator. Beyond her devotion for performing traditional piano repertoire, her creative personality shines through particularily contemporary music and multidisciplinary collaborations. Her interest in the fusion of the arts has led her to extensive collaboration with visual artist Sándor Vály. Their albums of literature and visual arts inspired experimental music are released under Ektro Records and broadcasted by the Finnish Radio.

Born and raised in Hungary, Ms. Polgár’s dedication to Hungarian culture resulted in specializing in Franz Liszt and Béla Bartók’s music. Her interpretation of Liszt’s piano works was praised by Liszt scholar Alan Walker as “A stunning performance! A real artist!” and was featured at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Hungarian Culture Centre in London, and the Franz Liszt Museum and Research Center in Budapest.  Her performance of Bartók’s Three Burlesques, Op. 8, was broadcasted by the Austrian Radio.

Ms. Polgár has toured the Americas and Europe. Her recent performances have included concerto appearances with conductors Tamás Vásáry at the Budapest Danube Palace and Horst Förster at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, where she received a second invitation to perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto in the 2017/2018 concert season.

Her latest appearances as a chamber musician in Seinäjoki, Finland, and Budapest, Hungary, focused on music of Brahms, Debussy, Bartók, and Bernstein. She was also selected by the University of North Texas to perform at the Austrian Culture Center in New York City.  

An avid promoter of contemporary music and enthusiastic entrepreneur, Ms. Polgár is a founding member of the InterSpheres Trio, a new music ensemble dedicated to commissioning and premiering new works by composers from around the world. Their repertoire ranges from Pierre Boulez to rising composers. They world premiered compositions of Daniel Tramte and Balázs Horváth in their first international concert and educational tour to Hungary. She has also collaborated with other ensembles such as the Seinäjoki String Quartet and the Somogyi String Quartet. Among other renowned artists, she has concertized with violinists Vilmos Szabadi and Márta Ábrahám, clarinetist Bence Szepesi, and her permanent flute chamber music partner, Lisa Bost-Sandberg, with whom she recently recorded Asha Srinivasan’s virtuoso opus, Utthista, dedicated to Bost-Sandberg.

Ms. Polgár has won top prizes in competitions including the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. New co-directors since 2017, Katherine Hickey and Ms. Polgár’s intent is to ensure the successful continuation of LAILC, as well as to foster young musicians at the early stage of their professional careers.  A committed educator and adjudicator, she has appeared at master classes, festivals, and competitions such as LAILC, the Bogotá International Piano Festival in Colombia, Tulsa University Summer Piano Academy in Oklahoma, and University of Mary in North Dakota.

A graduate of the Franz Liszt University and Sibelius Academy, Ms. Polgár has earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of North Texas. Her mentors are Jenő Jandó, Hamsa Al-Wadi Juris, and Adam Wodnicki.