Salon de Virtuosi: The Musical Soul of Hungary

About the Artists

Anne Liu

Anne Liu, a distinguished Young Steinway Artist, has captivated audiences worldwide with her profound musicality, virtuosic prowess, and remarkable range of colors. In the early stages of her career, Liu graced prestigious stages across the globe, delivering solo recitals in prominent cities and music festivals. Her performances have resonated in renowned venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall in New York City, and the Harris Concert Hall in Aspen. Liu's artistry has also found expression in international settings, including appearances at the Lake Como Summer Festival in Italy and the Ningbo Grand Theater in China. In recognition of her exceptional talent, Anne Liu was named a 2019 Presidential Scholar in the Arts, garnering honors from the President of the United States at the White House. She has won top prizes in numerous prestigious global competitions and is currently a student of Alessio Bax at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Dávid Kéringer

David Keringer, born into a family of musicians in Budapest, Hungary, is a versatile clarinet, saxophone, and recorder player. He is currently a member of TŌN - The Orchestra Now at Bard College. His first experiences with music happened through recorder, piano, and percussion lessons, and he also developed a liking for music theory. Before he was 12, he had already won recorder competitions and played various solo and chamber music concerts. He encountered the clarinet around that age and started his high school studies with clarinet performance and music theory majors. Throughout his time at the Béla Bartók High School for Music in Budapest, he won first prize at the National Clarinet Competition, participated in the institution's major musical events, and deepened his knowledge in conducting. After graduation, he was accepted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest for clarinet performance studies and also started taking saxophone lessons. He was invited to play on Hungarian national television in the talent show "Virtuosos" and was on air four times. Before getting his Bachelor of Arts degree, he completed two semesters as an Erasmus Scholarship recipient at the University of Music in Graz, Austria. He gave solo concerts in Hungary, Austria, Italy, Romania, and Japan.

He then pursued his master's degree at the University of Music in Vienna, Austria, the birthplace of the Viennese Classical style. There, he immersed himself in various orchestral, chamber music, and theatrical projects. He won the Absolute First Prize at the Danubia Talents 2020 competition as a soloist.

Tengku Irfan

Malaysian-born Tengku Irfan has appeared around the world as a pianist, conductor, and composer, and has been praised by The New York Times as “eminently cultured” and possessing “sheer incisiveness and power”. Irfan has performed with orchestras worldwide with conductors Claus Peter Flor, Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Robert Spano, Osmo Vänskä, among others. His compositions have been premiered by highly-acclaimed orchestras and ensembles, and have won international awards including three ASCAP Morton Gould Awards in 2012, 2014, and 2017. As a conductor, he was a runner-up and audience prize winner of the Los Angeles Conducting Competition in 2021 and worked as assistant/cover conductor for David Robertson, Speranza Scappucci, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Simone Young, and Sir Andrew Davis.