Franz Liszt Academy of Music



The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as Zeneakadémia, "Music Academy") is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the Liszt Collection, which features several valuable books and manuscripts donated by Franz Liszt upon his death, and the AVISO studio, a collaboration between the governments of Hungary and Japan to provide sound recording equipment and training for students. The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music was founded by Franz Liszt himself (though named after its founder only in 1925, approx. 50 years after it was relocated to its current location at the heart of Budapest). Between 1877-1879 the Academy moved into its present building, a masterpiece of art Neo-Renaissance architecture.

Facilities
The Academy was originally called the "Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music" and it was also called "College of Music" from 1919-1925. It was then named after its founder Franz Liszt in 1925. It was founded in Liszt's home, and relocated to a three-story Neo-Renaissance building designed by Adolf Láng and built on today's Andrássy Avenue between 1877 and 1879. That location is referred to as "the old Music Academy" and commemorated by a 1934 plaque made by Zoltán Farkas. It was repurchased by the academy in the 1980s, and is now officially known as "the Ferenc Liszt Memorial and Research Center."

Replacing "the old Music Academy", the Academy moved into a building erected in 1907 at the corner of Király Street and Ferenc Liszt Square. It serves as a centre for higher education, music training, and concert hall. The Art Nouveau style building is one of the most well known in Budapest. It was designed by Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl at the request of Baron Gyula Wlassics, who was the Minister of Culture at that time. The façade is dominated by a statue of Liszt (sculpted by Alajos Stróbl). The inside of the building is decorated with frescoes, Zsolnay ceramics, and several statues (among them that of Béla Bartók and Frédéric Chopin). Originally the building also had stained glass windows, made by Miksa Róth.

Other facilities used by the Academy are the Budapest Teacher Training College, located in the former National Music School on Semmelweis Street, a secondary school (Béla Bartók Secondary Grammar and Technical School of Music), and a student dormitory.

Ever since its foundation, the Academy has been the most prestigious music university operating in Hungary. A major development in its history was the recent establishment of a new, independent Folk Music Faculty. The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is as much a living monument to Hungary's continued musical life, as it is to the country's musical past. Its president (rector) is András Batta.

Notable alumni

 * Jenö Ádám
 * Géza Anda
 * Gábor Bánát
 * György Bánhalmi
 * Béla Bartók
 * Munir Bashir
 * Omar Bashir
 * Sari Biró
 * Gergely Bogányi
 * Charles Brunner
 * Georges Cziffra
 * Gábor Darvas
 * José De Eusebio
 * Ernő Dohnányi
 * Antal Doráti
 * Iván Erőd
 * Peter Erős
 * Ferenc Farkas
 * Edith Farnadi
 * András Fejér
 * George Feyer
 * Annie Fischer
 * Andor Földes
 * Péter Frankl
 * János Fürst
 * Zoltán Gárdonyi
 * János Gonda
 * Dénes Gulyás
 * László Gyimesi
 * Julia Hamari
 * Kato Havas
 * Erzsébet Házy
 * Endre Hegedűs
 * Frigyes Hidas
 * Marta Hidy
 * Jenő Hubay
 * Jenő Huszka
 * Sándor Jemnitz
 * Zoltán Jeney
 * Ilona Kabos
 * Pál Kadosa
 * Emmerich Kálmán
 * Balint Karosi
 * Bela Katona
 * István Kertész
 * Edward Kilenyi
 * Elisabeth Klein
 * Zoltán Kocsis
 * Zoltán Kodály
 * Rezső Kókai
 * Tibor Kozma
 * Lili Kraus
 * Adrienne Krausz
 * György Kurtág
 * István Kuthy
 * Magda László
 * Vlastimil Lejsek
 * András Ligeti
 * György Ligeti
 * Pál Lukács
 * Éva Marton
 * Gwendolyn Masin
 * Tibor Ney
 * Eugene Ormandy
 * Attila Pacsay
 * Ditta Pásztory-Bartók
 * László Polgár
 * David Popper
 * Ferenc Rados
 * Thomas Rajna
 * Fritz Reiner
 * József Réti
 * Lívia Rév
 * Anthony Ritchie
 * Andrea Rost
 * Ákos Rózmann
 * Vera Rozsa
 * Zoltán Rozsnyai
 * György Sándor
 * Szabolcs Sándor
 * Sylvia Sass
 * András Schiff
 * Károly Schranz
 * György Sebők
 * Jenő Sevely
 * Rane Shephard
 * Béla Síki
 * Georg Solti
 * László Somogyi
 * János Starker
 * Rezső Sugár
 * Zoltán Székely
 * András Szőllősy
 * Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick
 * Zeynep Üçbaşaran
 * Gregory Vajda
 * Tibor Varga
 * Margit Varró
 * Tamás Vásáry
 * Balint Vazsonyi
 * Gabriel von Wayditch
 * László Weiner
 * Leo Weiner
 * Wanda Wiłkomirska

Notable faculty (past and present)

 * Emil Ábrányi
 * Dezső Antalffy-Zsiross
 * Lajos Bárdos
 * Béla Bartók
 * Ernő Dohnányi
 * Iván Erőd
 * Ferenc Farkas
 * Edith Farnadi
 * Zoltán Gárdonyi
 * Lájos Hernadi
 * Jenő Jandó
 * Pál Kadosa
 * Zoltán Kodály
 * Hans von Koessler
 * Rezső Kókai
 * György Kurtág
 * Pál Lukács
 * Éva Marton
 * David Popper
 * Ferenc Rados
 * József Réti
 * Albert Simon
 * Péter Solymos
 * László Somogyi
 * Arnold Székely
 * Zoltán Székely
 * Árpád Szendy
 * Gusztáv Szerémi
 * István Thomán
 * Sándor Végh
 * Sándor Veress
 * János Viski
 * Leo Weiner
 * Ede Zathureczky