Daniel Szasz

Active as a concert soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist, Daniel Szasz has been the Concertmaster of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 1997. A versatile musician, interested in performing both standard and less familiar repertoire, Szasz has been consistently praised for his "expressive, rich and warm sound" as well as for his "strong, confident, and assertive playing." His performances have been described as "breathtaking" and "exquisite" and have generated great enthusiasm among his audiences and in the press.

Born in Romania, in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu, Szasz began playing the violin at age six under the supervision of his father, a former principal trumpet player with the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra. At the age of eight he played his first solo recital, and at thirteen he performed his first concerto with a professional orchestra. His teachers in Romania included Mihai Wunderlich, Victoria Nicolae, and Andras Agoston. While a student at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj, at only nineteen, Szasz landed a position with one of the top orchestras in Romania, the Cluj State Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he toured Europe extensively, recorded, and performed as a soloist on many occasions. Following studies with Alberto Lysy at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, Szasz moved to the U.S. and continued his violin studies with Vasile Beluska, Yair Kless, Gerald Jarvis, and Patrick Rafferty. He also studied chamber music with members of the Franz Schubert Quartet, Audubon Quartet, Emerson Quartet, and Fine Arts Quartet.

Mr. Szasz has received numerous awards in national competitions in Romania as well as international competitions which took place in Italy and the United States, including the "Public Prize" at the prestigious Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition in Florence, Italy, playing with his wife, pianist Alina Voicu. Over the years, Mr. Szasz participated in several music festivals, including the Graz Music Festival in Austria; the Sopron Music Festival in Hungary; the Blossom, Chautauqua, and New Hampshire Music Festivals in the U.S.

In 2004, in collaboration with The Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra, Mr. Szasz initiated the establishment of "The Romanian-American Music Days" in Sibiu, Romania, an annual summer music festival that promotes American music and supports active professional interactions between Romanian and American musicians.

Mr. Szasz's 2005-2006 appearances include solo and chamber music concerts in Romania, Hungary, Germany, and China, as well as performances with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in the MasterWorks and Concertmaster & Friends series.