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András Deák

conductor 

András Deák studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Liszt Academy of Music. He was Principal Conductor of the Danube Symphony from 1991-2021, and has led the Wiener Mozart Orchester, Vienna Strauss Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Vancouver Opera, Chicago Civic Opera, and Budapest Strauss orchestras. As a guest conductor, he has toured Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. In 2004, he was awarded Hungary’s decoration of Knight’s Cross for his contribution to musical artistry.

  • András Deák was born in Budapest, Hungary.
    He studied piano and composing in Béla Bartók Secondary Musical School, after which he graduated in Ferenc Liszt Music Academy as chorus-master in 1983. 3 years later, in 1986, he acquired his conductor’s degree under the leading of two famous Hungarian conductors, András Kórodi and Ervin Lukács. Besides the Music Academy, he upskilled himself with such internationally acknowledged professors as Franco Ferrara and Péter Eötvös. He started his conductor’s career as the artistic leader of the Salgótarján Symphony Orchestra, where he worked from 1985 to 1991.
    From 1991 to 2021 he was the leading conductor of the Danube Symphony Orchestra. During this time, he was the first performer of 14 new music compositions in the Danube Palace and the Palace of Arts in Budapest. In 1995 he was one of the finalists of the János Ferencsik International Conductors’ Competition arranged by the Hungarian Television. Since second part of the 1990’s, he has made several tv and radio recordings with his own orchestra and InterOperett Lehár Orchestra.
    In 1997 and 2006 he made two cd-recordings with the Danube Symphony Orchestra. Between 1995 and 2015, he was the founder and regular conductor of the classical music cycle called first „Danube Concerts”, then from 2015 to 2020 „Budapest Gala”. The aim these programs was to promote foreigners visiting Budapest to have an insight to the rich and outstanding musical culture of the Hungarian capital.
    Since 2000, he has been a regularly returning guest conductor of the single New Year’s concert series in North America, „Salute to Vienna”, which has won the official support and recognition of the city of Vienna. During the years, he has conducted in the most famous concert halls of the continent, has had concerts with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Civic Opera Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and he was also invited as a guest conductor by the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. He has had concerts in Finland, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey and Israel as well.
    Since 2006, he has been the leader of the Budapest Strauss Orchestra, which was founded by István Bogár in 1986. He is also acting as a stable conductor of the Vienna Mozart Orchestra, with whom he has regular concerts in the famous Vienna Musikverein, Staatsoper and the concert tours abroad. With the Vienna Mozart Orchestra, he has already been to Mexico, Bulgaria, Belarus, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Latvia, Russia, China, Portugal and Greece.
    Since 2014, as the leading conductor of the Vienna Strauss Philharmonie Orchestra, the number of their concerts in Russia, the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Czech Republic and in Bulgaria has exceeded 300.
    For his internationally acknowledged artistic activity, in 2004 he was awarded with the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit. Together with his orchestra, he also received the Gramofon Special Music Prize for their outstanding activity in promoting musical culture and upbringing new concert public. In 2014, as an acknowledgment of his activity in the field of culture and public education, he received the award of „For the Culture of Törökbálint”.
    In 2025, he was awarded the title of Honorary citizen of Törökbálint.