Botond Téglás, a 12-year-old student at the Reformed College in Sárospatak, is like most children - he likes cycling, swimming and hiking with his friends. He will represent Hungary as a finalist in the Golden Classical Music Awards international violin competition on July 20, 2022 at Carnegie Hall in New York. We spoke to Zsolt Téglás, Botond's father.
First of all, let us congratulate Botond on his outstanding achievement. Where does his passion for music come from and where is he currently studying?
Botond started playing the violin at the very young age of 5. He had a family motivation to play music, as the Téglás family's father and grandfather play together in the Zsindely Folk Ensemble. Although Boti loves Hungarian folk music, his violin studies focus on classical music.
Botond is a student of the Farkas Ferenc Elementary School of Arts in Sárospatak, his teacher is Csabáné Varjas. In addition to his music studies in Sárospatak, he is taught by renowned violin teachers in Budapest on a weekly basis and in Vienna for 2 days a month, so the violin forms an integral part of his everyday life.
Botond is a student of the Farkas Ferenc Elementary School of Arts in Sárospatak.
Despite his young age, Botond has already gained considerable international experience. Where have audiences seen him so far?
That's right, the daily persistent practice and love of music brings more and more achievements and recognition with time. Besides numerous performances at home, he has also performed in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Highlights include performances with Kossuth Prize winner János Rolla, Liszt Prize winner István Pál and the renowned Italian violinist Enrico Balboni. He has already competed in some 35 national and international violin competitions, winning first prizes or gold medals in most of them. Last year in July, Botond received the first 4/4 violin of his life from the Hungarian-born violin maker Stefano Conia in Cremona, Northern Italy, the capital of violin-making.
What are your plans for the near future?
The summer break cannot pass without concerts. A few weeks ago we were in Italy, where Botond gave two highly successful concerts at the invitation of the Teatro Filodrammatici di Cremona. All proceeds from the concerts were donated to help refugees from Ukraine through the Kiwanis Club of Cremona.
Two weeks ago, he performed with his schoolmates in Sátoraljaújhely on the occasion of the National Unity Day in the presence of Katalin Novák, President of Hungary.
During the summer, he will perform at the Musikverein in Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York. Our plans also include a summer music camp, filming and recording a concert in August, hopefully followed by a family holiday.