Handel’s Salon with Zsombor Tóth-Vajna and Gabriella Ács
Zsombor and Gabriella will present a selection of opera and oratorio arias from Giulio Cesare, Messiah, Radamisto, Xerxes, Samson, Rinaldo, Semeele, Rodelinda and Atalanta.
Zsombor Tóth-Vajna
Zsombor, an early keyboard specialist and conductor, is one of the leading figures of the young musician generation in Hungary. He studied harpsichord and the organ at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Miklós Spányi, where he graduated with the highest honours, and where he is a guest teacher now. He continued his studies at the Conservatorium van and was taught by Menno van Delft (harpsichord, clavichord) and Richard Egarr (harpsichord, Amsterdam fortepiano), and on the organ by Jacques van Oortmerssen. He also holds a degree in medicine from Semmelweis University, Budapest.
He has given recitals in many European countries and in the United States of America as a soloist, conductor and as continuo in various orchestras. Zsombor is the founder and artistic director of Hungarian baroque orchestra Harmonia Caelestis (founded in 2015) in Budapest, and he is a passionate piano four-hands player with his partner and twin brother, Gergely under the name Piano e Forte Duo. Zsombor has recorded seven solo recordings for different labels.
Gabriella Ács
Gabriella Ács began her musical journey studying the flute and piano, and playing in a wind orchestra, yet her true ambition was to become a singer. After finishing secondary school, she pursued more advanced musical training at the Bartók Béla Conservatory of Music in Miskolc, where she graduated with honors in 2011. She continued her education at the University of Miskolc, receiving her degree with distinction in 2014.
That same year, she was admitted to the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, where she studied in the class of Ingrid Kertesi at the Master’s level. During her studies, she had the privilege of working with renowned teachers such as Emese Virág, Dénes Gulyás, András Batta, Sándor Kovács, Erika Dallos, Imre Földes, and Ágnes Romhányi. In 2018, she graduated with honors, earning her diploma in oratorio and art song performance. She then continued her postgraduate studies at the Academy as a student of Éva Marton.
She further enriched her artistic development by attending numerous masterclasses, including stage performance courses with Péter Köves, baroque workshops with György Vashegyi, the Verdi–Puccini course with Massimo Morelli, as well as masterclasses with Júlia Hamari and Éva Marton.
Currently, Gabriella performs regularly as an oratorio and art song soloist. Alongside her performing career, she is a faculty member at the Nyíregyháza Secondary School of Arts, where she teaches solo voice, and at the Bartók Béla Faculty of Music at the University of Miskolc.
Gabriella is currently a supported talent of the Quintessence Master Academy, led by world-renowned soprano Erika Miklósa.
