Konrad Varga

Konrád was born in 2006 in Vienna and decided at just under three years old to play the cello like his father. At four and a half, he finally took his first lesson with Kamelia Bayrov. During these very successful years together, Konrád won several first prizes with distinction, was admitted to the Vienna Music School's support program, and received numerous opportunities to present himself in concert.

In July 2023, he played Vivaldi's Double Concerto with his father and the Waidhofen Chamber Orchestra in Melk and Waidhofen an der Ybbs, and in September, Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major in Csíkszereda, Romania, with the local string orchestra. A performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto with the MGW Festival Orchestra is planned for December.

Since September 2022, Konrád has been part of Andrea Traxler's gifted class at the Johann Sebastian Bach Music School Vienna. At the same time, he was admitted to the gifted program of the Music Gymnasium, enabling him to complete the preparatory course in composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and to devote more time to composing.

In 2018, his father premiered his "Ballade in Yellow" for solo cello in the USA. Another composition for solo cello, "Ad Agio?" (2020), was inspired by Riccardo Muti and dedicated to him. Currently, he is working on several commissions, including from the J. S. Bach Music School.

As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Konrád is a founding member of two string quartets and the cello quartet "Cello fo(u)r Masters," which won a first prize in the Prima la Musica national competition in 2023 with 92.20 points.

Konrád gained orchestral experience in the gymnasium orchestras, the JSO Vienna, at the Jeunesse Orchestra Camps in St. Florian, as a member of Camerata Prima Vienna (where he had opportunities for solo performances), as a participant in the Summer Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic, and in Gustavo Dudamel's youth project "Encuentros ‘21" in Spain.