Igal Kesselman Chamber Music Master Class at the Liszt Academy

Dates:

Sunday, 23rd of November, 2025, 10.00-13.00, 15.00-17.00

Monday, 24th of November, 2025, 10.00-13.00, 15.00-17.00

Venue:

Liszt Academy, Old Academy of Music, Chamber Hall

(Budapest, Vörösmarty utca 35.)

Participation options & application:

Active participants:

• Chamber music groups formed by students of the Liszt Academy may apply with the members’ names, their instruments, and pieces to be performed at the master class. You can apply using the online form below (on the form, fill in the names in the first two blocks). If the applications are more than the number of classes, the Head of Department will choose the performing groups with the supervision of guest professor.
• Application deadline: Friday, October 24, 2025, Midnight

Passive participants:

•  The master class is open to all students of Liszt Academy and Bartók Conservatory as passive participants free of charge, with no prior registration. Others must register at detari.alexandra@zeneakademia.hu email address. 

Praised for his “kaleidoscopic” playing by the New York Times, pianist Igal Kesselman is one of today’s most forward-thinking performers and music educators. After making his American debut with the Washington Chamber Symphony at the Kennedy Center, he has performed throughout the country in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space and Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in NYC; the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; and the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Dr. Kesselman was a top prizewinner at “Citta de Marsala” International Piano Competition in Italy and has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Israeli Camerata.

Highlights from recent seasons include performance of Mozart's Double Concerto with pianist Orli Shaham and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA, solo recitals for subscription series at Tel Aviv University and Arizona State University, and performances with Rob Kapilow on the What Makes It Great? series at Merkin Hall. He also conducted Masterclasses at Oberlin Conservatory, the Colburn School in Los Angeles, Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox MA, Jerusalem Academy of Music, and Arizona State University at Tempe.

Dr. Kesselman is a past recipient of ten America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarships. He received his B.M. degree, cum laude, from S. Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, and his M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. His teachers have included Yoheved Kaplinsky, Emanuel Krasovsky and Irina Zaritskaya. Currently, he serves as the Director of Lucy Moses School and Music Director of Special Music School (M. 859) at Kaufman Music Center in Manhattan, and curates the popular Tuesday Matinees series at Kaufman's Merkin Hall. Dr. Kesselman serves frequently as a judge in international competitions and auditions, including Concert Artist Guild, New Orleans International Piano Competition, Astral Artists, Virginia Wering International Piano Competition and Boston University. The Founder and Artistic Director of the Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition, he is also a member of the piano faculty at Lucy Moses School and Special Music School at Kaufman Music Center. Dr. Kesselman is a Steinway Artist.