Katica Illényi

Biography

Katica comes from a classical music family. Her mother was a special schoolteacher but she played the piano very well. Her father Ferenc Illényi (1935-2007), played in the Hungarian State Opera House. As her first teacher, he decided to bring up all four of their children to become musicians. The four Illényi siblings Katica, Ferenc, Anikó and Csaba started to play instruments at the age of three, and hours of practice was a natural thing for them. At the age of 14 she was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest to the class of “special talents”.

In 1991 she obtained her master's degree in violin at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. As a newly graduated violinist, she felt that the boundaries of classical music were too constricting for her: she wanted to play with her whole being. This is when she decided that, besides playing the violin, she would also sing and dance. She started to attend phonation classes, and next to the violin, her voice became her second instrument. In addition to all of that, she also learned acting and tap dancing. Very unusual for a violinist, but in her early years she played the main roles in plays and musicals, in which of course the violin played a very important part. Meanwhile she started to get acquainted with the “lighter” genres of music such as jazz and swing, and she searched for the style specialities in world music which she hadn't come across in classical music.

From 1996 to 2002, she was the singer and violinist of the Budapest Klezmer Band.

There was a turning point in her life, when she was invited to perform in solo in different television shows.

Katica began her solo career in 2002. Since then, she has given self-organized concerts each year, always with a new repertoire, mixing classical pieces and jazz. Her concerts feature gems of classical music and movie soundtracks. In addition to Tchaikovsky, Paganini, Dvořák, Gershwin, Morricone, Michel Legrand and John Williams, she also plays Hungarian composers like Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Franz Liszt, Leo Weiner. Committed to high quality popular music, she gives jazz concerts regularly where she sings and tap-dances. Her performances prove that there is interoperability between the different genres of music, and that it builds a bridge between the different cultures. Her positive personality, professional competence, work and reputation allow her to spread Hungarian composers' music, classical music and sophisticated jazz music to a broad social spectrum, and to lift the rank of Hungarian music culture internationally.

She owns many gold and platinum records. She was chosen to be one of the artists – besides Zoltán Kocsis, Andrea Rost, and Márta Sebestyén – to represent Hungarian culture wordwide.

Theremin

She introduced the Theremin to her audience on the 4th of January 2014, at her New Years concert, which took place at The Palace of Arts Béla Bartók Concert Hall. There are very few Theremin artists in the world. She is the only Hungarian artist that plays the mysterious instrument in concert. It is called the untouchable instrument since it doesn't need to be touched to produce a sound.

Charity

At her charity concerts she draws attention to how much we depend on each other, the importance of selfless help. She participated in City Mission in Budapest by the request of the Catholic Church. At Győr the Evangelic Lutheran Church invited her to help the work of the Red Cross. Currently she is participating in the work of the International Foundation called Nurture the World which is dedicated to raising awareness and funds to ensure nutritious meals for hungry children around the world.

Siblings

Awards

Music studies

Other studies

Albums

audio−video national and international presentations:

Concert recordings

2015. New Years Concert – Around the world in 80 days Palace of Arts Budapest Béla Bartók National Concert Hall January 4, 2014. Győr Philharmonic Orchestra Guests: Anikó Illényi, Csaba Illényi, Andras de Laszlo Conducted by: István Silló

2011. Live in Budapest Palace of Arts, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall December 16, 2011. Győr Philharmonic Orchestra Guest: Csaba Illényi Conducted by: István Silló

2010. Katica Illényi and her Siblings Concert Palace of Arts, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall December 4, 2010. Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra Guests: Anikó Illényi, Ferenc Illényi and Csaba Illényi. Conducted by: István Silló

2010. Concert at the Comedy Theatre Budapest with Judit Faludy and Miklós Szenthelyi May 10, 2010. Hungarian Virtuoso Orchestra

2009. Love Songs Tivoli Theatre April 29. 2009

2008. Concert at the Thalia Theatre Thalia Theatre December 6, 2008

2008. Stéphane Grappelli Tribute Thalia Theatre December 8, 2008. Guest Csaba Deseő

2007. Spring Concert at the Academy of Music Academy of Music May 10. 2007. Guest Csaba Illényi Conducted by: István Silló

2006. Concert at The Palace of Arts Palace of Arts, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall February 5, 2006 Ferenc Erkel Chamber, Kornél Fekete-Kovács and the 5 Brass Guest: Csaba Illényi, Árpád Pirovits, Bolyki Brothers Conducted by: István Silló

2004. Let’s play the strings Thalia Theatre November 25, 2004.

Main theatre roles