Katona Twins

The Hungarian born Katona Twins, Peter and Zoltán, have given recitals throughout the world including performances at the Carnegie Hall in New York; the Purcell Room of the Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in London; the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Konzerthaus in Vienna ,the Suntory Hall in Tokyo; the Forbidden City in Beijing; the Alte Oper in Frankfurt and the Philharmonie in Cologne. The twins have won numerous prizes, both individually and together. In 2004 they were awarded, with the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni prize, the first guitarist in the trust's history. In 1998 they won the Concert Artists Guild Competition held in New York thereby securing management throughout the USA; tours soon followed as did their Carnegie Hall debut. In 1997 they were winners at the Young Concert Artist Trust auditions in London and that brought with it London based worldwide management; in the same year they successfully auditioned for the Park Lane contemporary music group. Earlier in their careers the twins won the S.T. Johnson Foundation prize in 1995 and The Laura Ashley prize in 1996. In 1993 they won first prize at the most prestigious guitar duo competition in Montelimar, France. In the same year Peter & Zoltán won first prize at the international guitar duo competition held in Bubenreuth, Germany and were awarded the Cultural Prize of the City of Kassel, Germany. The wide repertoire of the duo spans from Scarlatti to Piazzolla’s tango music. Their programmes also include concertos for two guitars and orchestra by Rodrigo, Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Tedesco. Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and several other contemporary composers have written for and dedicated works to the Katona Twins. From the age of ten the twins have studied both individually and as a guitar duo in Budapest, Frankfurt and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. During their studies they benefitted from classes with Julian Bream and John Williams. The Katona Twins have been invited on numerous occasions to record for the BBC and other international television and radio stations. Their CD releases include music by Scarlatti and Handel; Rodrigo; Albéniz and pieces by Piazzolla, Granados, de Falla and Mozart. http://www.katonatwins.com/