At the age of 19, Miranda Liu became Hungary’s youngest concertmaster
“What is a good lead violinist like?”
– I think a good concertmaster has the same skills as any other conductor. He is a person that others like to work with and look up to. Mediates between the musicians and the conductor. It’s a big responsibility. As a concertmaster, I hold vocal rehearsals, write the lines…
– What is he writing?
– In which direction to pull the string, and the concertmaster shows what the exact playing style should be. During the rehearsal, I help implement the conductor’s ideas and concepts. If we perform with a guest conductor, the concertmaster represents the orchestra.
“When was the first time you were on stage?”
– My mother is a music teacher, and she started teaching me piano quite early, when I was two years old. A year later, I performed for the first time at a student concert. I started playing the violin at the age of four, and for a while I learned to play both instruments simultaneously. I played the violin for the first time on stage when I was five or six years old.
– His own composition was performed by musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Network for New Music, among others. Where did you study composition?
– When I was little, I wrote for composition lessons and my works were played by excellent musicians for some successful pieces in competitions. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to compose these days.
– He has also performed as a conductor. Did you conduct your own piece then?
– No. At the same time, I also attended conducting lessons and took part in a few master classes. Not because I want to be a great conductor, but because that is also part of my musical training. When I work with conductors, it helps the joint work that I was already able to stand on that side.
– He won at least two dozen prizes in many international competitions between 2011 and 2016. Do you like to compete?
– It’s useful, because if you win a competition, you get concert opportunities. I once received the prize of playing Prokofiev II on a Stradivari violin. I was able to play his violin concerto with the New World Symphony of Florida. It was a great success.
– With whom does Concerto perform outside of Budapest?
– I have two string quartets, both of which I founded.
“He’s very active.”
“Maybe he’s too active!” In 2017, cellist Judit Szabó performed one of the most difficult string quartets, Bartók IV. we played his string quartet. It went so well that we think we will stay together and the Central European String Quartet was formed. We have already announced two international composer competitions. For one competition, 75 pieces of music from 27 countries were submitted. We played all the pieces and decided who the winners would be based on that. Last year, I founded the V4 String Quartet as a grant from the Visegrád Fund. All our members come from a V4 country, and we play works by composers from the four countries. It’s great to work together.
– You represent Hungary.
“Yes!” We debuted in Slovakia in October. In Hungary, we performed for the first time at the opening concert of the festival, at the House of Hungarian Music.
– August 25–30. the New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival will be held between
– I always wanted to create a festival. Since both I and my agency have a large network of contacts, we thought we would organize concerts and international masterclasses as well. I am glad that the event is getting more and more attention and that more and more artists are coming to us. I think that chamber music is quite an intimate genre, which is why we have chosen suitable venues: we hold the concerts in the Festetics Palace, the Institute of Music, the Chamber Hall of the Old Academy of Music, and the former apartment of Ferenc Liszt. Many specialties and rarities will be on show. The world-famous Spanish-American pianist Josu de Solaun will perform in Hungary for the first time. The audience can also listen to the works of Péter Eötvös, as well as the solo concert of the multiple award-winning pianist Georgij Csaidze.
At the closing concert, the V4 String Quartet will also perform with Josu de Solaun, among others. In connection with the festival, we organize master classes, for which applicants from Hungary, Korea, America, and England have also applied. For the Erasmus competition this year, I founded the New Millennium International Academy with Bulgarian and Austrian Spanish partners. We also provide scholarships so that as many people as possible can participate in the work. In addition to instrument lessons, we organize lectures on various topics, such as how to get a rehearsal or how to manage yourself as a musician. Since musicians are constantly exposed to stressful situations, we draw attention to the importance of physical and mental health. And also how to avoid injuries, which I failed to do in the spring.
– His repertoire is huge. How much do you exercise daily?
“It depends on how many concerts I have to prepare for.” In January, we performed Richard Strauss’s Heroic Life, with the greatest concertmaster solo in it. In July, I performed at the Polish Music Festival. I will have a concert in the Czech Republic in December, which I am really looking forward to. I’m playing Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and it takes a lot of preparation. I have a lot of music in my head. I often spend the whole day rehearsing, then continue practicing at home. Sometimes I start very early and play the violin at 14-15 in the morning.
“Do they like the neighbors?”
“I’m lucky, yes.” They hear me practice and say they like it.
“Now that you’ve broken your ankle, what about the tango?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t dance for a while.” I love to tango, I study with an Argentinian-Hungarian couple. As soon as possible, I will also deal with dancing.
Business card
Violinist Miranda Liu was born in 1996 in California. He studied in Austria, then continued his studies at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, where he graduated in 2015. Two years later, he received his master’s degree and became the youngest doctoral student in the university’s history. Concertmaster of Concerto Budapest. He has founded several quartets so far. He is the founder and artistic director of the New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival and Masterclasses, founded in 2019.
Cover photo: Miranda Liu (Photo: Árpád Kurucz)