Balázs Fazekas

About
Balázs Fazekas

Balázs Fazekas (b. 1999) is a Hungarian pianist born in Slovakia.
He began playing the piano at the age of seven, inspired by his violinist brother, and soon became active in chamber music. After just two years of study, he won his first competition and was later admitted to the Conservatory in Košice, where he studied with Prof. Judita Debreová.
He quickly gained recognition through national and international competitions, winning prizes such as 3rd place at the P. Toperczer Competition, the EMCY Prize, and awards from Petrof and the mayor of Košice. He also placed 4th at the Chopin Competition in Budapest and performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the State Philharmonic Košice at the age of 17.
Further accolades include prizes from competitions in Brno, Poland, and Ukraine, as well as 1st prize with special awards at the F. Chopin Competition in Vienna. In 2019, he began studies at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf with Prof. Lisa Eisner-Smirnova and subsequently studied with Tobias Koch. He was a semi-finalist at the 2022 F. Chopin Competition in Darmstadt and received a scholarship from the Ralf und Uschi Kutscheit Stiftung in 2023. He is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Prof. Momo Kodama.
Since 2016, he has performed in a duo with pianist Kateryna Shapran, earning awards and recording for WDR, Rádio Košice, and others. In 2023, they made their debut at Salle Cortot in Paris and released their first CD in 2024.