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The Hungarian mezzo-soprano, Anna Molnár, began her singing studires in 2006 with Katalin Schultz. At the Liszt Academy’s Oratorio and Lied department Anna was the student of Andrea Meláth. She graduated in 2017. In 2016, with the help of the European Erasmus Program, she spent one semester at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, where she worked with Rita Dams and Gerda van Zelm (September 2016-January 2017). After her university years she participated in three significant new music master-classes: the Darmstadt Summer Course - Professor: Donatienne Michel-Dansac; the Summer Academy of Ensemble Linea in Strasbourg - Professor: Françoise Kubler; and the Impuls in Graz - Professors: Agata Zubel and Andreas Fischer. She also attended master-classes of Nancy Argenta, Ingrid Attrot, Marcel Boone, Júlia Hamari, Margreet Honig, Peter Kooy, Ágnes Kovács, Dorothee Mields, Thomas Quasthoff, Claudio di Segni and György Vashegyi. She was awarded the Annie Fischer Scholarship three times (2016, 2017, 2018) as well as the scholarship of Bank of China in 2017.
Anna Molnár is "a versatile artist with a stirring voice, who likes pushing boundaries and participating in experimental performances". /Dániel Mona/ Contemporary-, baroque-music, lied and opera are equally important in her career. As a soloist she performed several times at the Grand Hall and Solti Hall of the Liszt Academy, at Palace of Arts (Müpa Budapest), at the Budapest Music Center and at FUGA Budapest. She appeared as a soloist with orchestras like the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orfeo Orchestra, the UMZE Ensemble and the Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, the MÁV and the Danube Symphony Orchestras, the Budapest Strings and the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc.
On the opera stage Anna Molnár sang roles like Ottavia and Valletto in The Coronation of Poppea (led by Michael Chance), Didymus in George Frideric Handel's Theodora or Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte (conducted by György Vashegyi). Since 2018 she appears regularly in productions of the Hungarian State Opera. In 2019 she sang in the world premiere of Away, no matter where at the MuTh Theater (Vienna), a physical theatre performance of Forte Company of Csaba Horváth. Since Away, no matter where is being performed at the Trafó House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest. Also in 2019 she took over the triple role of Mother, Virgin and Stephania in the puppet-opera The Giant Baby composed by Gregory Vajda, a production of the Kolibri Theatre for Children and Youth. In 2020 she sang the world premiere of Transporters, a mono-opera on the novel of Péter Esterházy by the same composer, dedicated to Anna herself.
New music has a important place in Anna Molnár’s life. She performs music of living composers regularly, among them a lot of world premieres written exclusively for her. Significant and challenging 20th century pieces like Anton Webern's 4 Lieder op. 12, Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Pierre Boulez' Le Marteau sans maître or Luciano Berio's Folk Songs, O King and Sequenza III are also on her repertoire. She is a regular guest artist at festivals like CAFe Budapest Contemporary Art Festival, CentriFUGA (contemporary music lab of the FUGA Budapest Center of Architecture; since 2017), The Day of Listening (one-day contemporary music marathon of Concerto Budapest), and she also performed at Kamara.hu chamber music festival, Transparent Sound New Music Festival, Budapest Spring Festival, The Night of Music of Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Valley of Arts Festival and the Armel Opera Festival. Since 2017 she is a permanent guest soloist at the conductor and composer master-classes of the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation, lead by Péter Eötvös and Gregory Vajda.
As vocal chamber music was an important part of her studies, it is playing a defining role in her professional career today. Anna Molnár performs with Purcell Choir (Director: György Vashegyi; since 2014), with Rolf Beck’s International Choir Academy and the Collegium Vocale Gent (Director: Philippe Herreweghe; since 2017). She also won auditions to Cappella Amsterdam (Director: Daniel Reuss), Nederlands Kamerkoor (Director: Peter Dijkstra) and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Vienna (Director: Erwin Ortner).
Anna Molnár has always approached music performance from many different angles. Still today, she regards people and ensembles from her childhood and from her student years very important part of her musicianship. The following people and musical groups made her into what she is today: Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis (artistic leaders: Tamás Bubnó and János Mezei), Ilona Andor Children’s Choir (artistic leader: Sándor Kabdebó) and the Angelica Girls’ Choir (artistic leader: Zsuzsanna Gráf).
As a soloist Anna Molnár performed with the following conductors, directors, musicians among others: Makoto Akatsu, András Almási-Tóth, Ferenc Anger, János Bali, Rolf Beck, Tamás Bubnó, Michael Chance, Péter Csaba, István Dénes, Róbert Farkas, Krisztián Gergye, Dénes Gulyás, Csaba Horváth, András Keller, Gergely Kesselyák, János Novák, Zoltán Pad, László Paulik, Csaba Somos, Gregory Vajda and György Vashegyi. As a chamber singer: Péter Eötvös, Ádám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Zsolt Hamar, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, János Kovács, Ádám Medveczky, Zubin Mehta, Francesc Prat, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, Maciej Tworek and Hugh Wolff.
Since March 2020, Anna Molnár teaches classical voice at the jazz department of the Liszt Academy Budapest. |
