Keynote-Speaker

27th October 2009

Quality and strategy in respect of the teamworking

Moderator: Dénes Gábor, Secretary-General of the Hungarian Manager Association

Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor of Jewish origin. Iván Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition. He was a conducting student of Hans Swarowsky in Vienna, where he also studied cello and early music, studying and working as assistant to Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
In 1976, Iván Fischer won the Rupert Foundation conducting competition in London. He began thereafter to guest-conduct such British orchestras as the BBC Symphony and the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom he conducted a world tour in 1982. His US conducting debut was with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1983.

Budapest Festival Orchestra
Fischer returned to Hungary in 1983 to found the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO). The partnership between Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra has proved to be one of the greatest success stories in the past 25 years of classical music. Fischer introduced several reforms, developed intense rehearsal methods for the musicians, emphasizing chamber music and creative work for each orchestra member. Intense international touring and a series of acclaimed recordings for Philips Classics, later for Channel Classics have contributed to Iván Fischer's reputation as one of the world's most visionary and successful orchestra leaders.

He has developed and introduced new types of concerts, "cocoa-concerts" for young children, "surprise" concerts where the programme is not announced, "one forint concerts" where he talks to the audience, open-air concerts in Budapest attracting tens of thousands of people, as well as concert opera performances applying scenic elements. He has founded several festivals, including a summer festival in Budapest on baroque music and the Budapest Mahlerfest which is also a forum for commissioning and presenting new music works. In addition, there is an annual competition from within the orchestra for soloist opportunities in concert.

Awards
Iván Fischer is a founder of the Hungarian Mahler Society, and Patron of the British Kodály Academy. He received the Golden Medal Award from the President of the Republic of Hungary, and the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum for his services to help international cultural relations. The French Government named him Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. In 2006 he was honored with the Kossuth Prize, Hungary's most prestigious arts award. He is honorary citizen of Budapest.

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