Boldizsár Csíky Jr. - President of the Jury

Born in Reghin on November 25, 1968, he demonstrated remarkable musical abilities from childhood. He attended the Art High School in Târgu Mureș, where he studied under Szőnyi Márta and Ávéd Silló Éva. He continued his education at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj, studying piano under Ileana Prada and Dana Borșan, and composition under Hans Peter Türk. As a student, he won five national piano performance awards, and in 1994, he received the "Cella Delavrancea" prize, awarded by maestro Dan Grigore.

In 1991, he began postgraduate studies with Maestro Jenő Jandó, a professor at the “Franz Liszt” Academy of Music in Budapest. In 1992, he was awarded a scholarship for masterclasses in Lübeck, Germany, where he studied with Professor Lev Naumov. Between 1993 and 1997, he participated in masterclasses with Professor Walter Krafft in Munich. In 1998, on the recommendation of Maestro Dan Grigore, he attended the summer course at Fontainebleau (France), where he studied with professors Gabi Cassadesus, Philippe Bianconi, and Philippe Entremont. In 2000, after numerous collaborations and approximately 40 concerts per year, the music director (Walter Krafft) of the Münchener Musikseminar (Germany) awarded him the title of permanent soloist.

He has performed with all of Romania's symphonic orchestras and has made several recordings, including CDs, as well as radio and TV appearances. He has been invited multiple times to serve as a juror for international piano competitions and has also held masterclasses both in Romania and abroad.

As a performing artist, he has given over 1,000 concerts and recitals in major music centers across Romania and internationally: Austria, England, Bulgaria, Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the USA, and Japan.

He has collaborated with world-renowned conductors, including: Erich Bergel, Ion Baciu, Emanuel Elenescu, Emil Simon, Petre Sbârcea, Ludovic Bács, Aczél Ervin, Remus Georgescu, Cristian Mandeal, Horia Andreescu, Ilarion Ionescu-Galați, Sabin Păutza, Gheorghe Costin, Edvard Tschivzhel, Kocsis Zoltán, and others.

He has also worked in various chamber ensembles with acclaimed artists such as Ruha István, Ligeti Diana, Carmen Gurban, Gaetano d´Espinosa, Fenyő László, Rolf Herbrechtsmeyer, Andreas Henkel, Valentin Arcu, Dan Grigore, Jandó Jenő, the Transylvanian Quartet, the Gaudeamus Quartet, the Moscow Trio, and more.

In 2006, he earned a Doctorate in Music with a thesis titled “Stylistic Elements of Pianistic Creation in A. Skriabin – From Post-Romantic to Modern.” He also published the complete three-volume monograph of conductor Erich Bergel. He currently serves as a university professor at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj. His piano students have been awarded prizes at national and international piano competitions, with some already developing significant concert and teaching careers.

Kovács Emőke

Violinist KOVÁCS EMŐKE studied in her hometown of Cluj-Napoca, first at the “Sigismund Toduță” Music High School and later at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy, in the class of Professor Béres Melinda, where she also completed her master's degree.

Between 1998 and 2000, the violinist was a member of the Hungarian State Opera in Cluj-Napoca, and since 2002, she has been a member of the "Dinu Lipatti" State Philharmonic Orchestra in Satu Mare. Kovács Emőke is also a teacher at the “Aurel Popp” Art High School in Satu Mare, in the violin department.

Throughout her career, she has collaborated with the Hungarian Opera in Cluj-Napoca, the “Sigismund Toduță” Music High School in Cluj-Napoca, the “Escuela Superior de Artes" Yucatan Faculty in Mexico, as well as the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra between 2005 and 2006.

She has participated in numerous masterclasses in Hungary, Germany, and Romania, collaborating with various orchestras both nationally and internationally. She was a member of the "Consonantia" chamber ensemble, the "Diletto Musicale" chamber orchestra, the "Quasi Cosi" trio, and is currently a member of the "FOURever" quartet, giving chamber music concerts both in Romania and abroad.

Since December 2019, she has been the manager of the "Dinu Lipatti" State Philharmonic Orchestra in Satu Mare.

Apolka Bonnyai

Apolka Bonnyai graduated as a pianist from the Liszt Academy of Music in 2001, where her professors were Dénes Várjon, Balázs Szokolay, and András Kemenes, and she obtained her DLA degree in 2013.

In addition to her studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, she participated in masterclasses with András Schiff, Malcolm Bilson, Ferenc Rados, Pavel Gililov, Dmitri Bashkirov, Lev Natochenny, Leslie Howard, and Norma Fisher.

She has won numerous scholarships and international music competitions. As a winner of the Grand Prize Virtuoso and Golden Classical Music Awards international competitions, she performed at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and Carnegie Hall in New York.

As a recipient of the Weingarten Scholarship, she studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Professor Malcolm Bilson, and later at Montclair University in the United States under the guidance of David Witten and Mark Pakman, where she also earned a Performer’s Diploma as a Terplan Research Fellow.

She gave a highly successful concert at the 9th International Music Festival in Kyoto, Japan, which was recorded on CD. Other festival invitations include the Yamaha Artist Liszt Festival, the Hungarian Arts and Humanities Festival in New York, the Budapest Festival Academy, and the Cziffra Piano Festival. She has twice participated in the V4 Piano Festival in Sárospatak, where she also served as artistic director in 2019.

As a soloist, she has performed in prestigious venues such as the Palace of Arts, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozarteum, Alti Hall, the Subotica Synagogue, Auditorium Maximum, the Palace of Arts, the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy of Music, and many other concert halls across Europe and America. She regularly makes recordings at the Marble Hall of Hungarian Radio.

Since 2001, Apolka Bonnyai has been a piano teacher at the King Saint Stephen Music High School. She regularly serves as a judge for piano competitions and conducts masterclasses both in Hungary and abroad.

She is the founder and artistic director of the Carpathian Basin Classical Music Festival and the Carpathian Basin International Piano Competition.

György Levente

György Levente, manager of the Târgu Mureș State Philharmonic, studied double bass at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca from 1995 to 2000. Later, starting in 2011, he furthered his studies in Switzerland, benefiting from a Pro Basso scholarship. As a vocal artist and opera soloist, he trained at prestigious institutions, including the Hochschule der Künste in Bern under the guidance of Professor Elisabeth Glauser, as well as at the Schweizer Operastudio. Additionally, he obtained a diploma in orchestral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich under Marc Kissoczy.

Since 2005, he has received a scholarship from the Tonkünstlerverein in Lausanne and won the Migros Kulturprozent singing competition in Zurich, which allowed him to obtain an additional scholarship for further studies. He has had the privilege of being mentored by masters of lyrical art such as Nicolai Gedda, Francisco Araiza, Hans Peter Blochwitz, László Polgár, Cornelia Kallisch, and Lani Poulson.

His debut on the Swiss stage took place at the Biel-Solothurn Theater, where he was an invited soloist for five years. Between 2011 and 2020, he performed as a soloist at the Theater für Niedersachsen in Hildesheim, Germany. His repertoire is vast, encompassing over 60 roles from operas and operettas by renowned composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Smetana, J. Strauss, Offenbach, Puccini, Ravel, and Martinů. He also successfully approaches the vocal-symphonic genre, performing particularly significant solo roles.

With extensive experience in the musical field and artistic performances, György Levente is a dedicated professional with an impressive career that combines artistic talent with management skills, making a significant contribution to the promotion of quality music.

Silvia Sbârciu

Gheorghe Costin

Horia Mihail

Participation fee

The Participation fee is of 50 euros/250 RON, payable with the competitor’s complete nameand mentioning « Targu Mures - Marosvasarhely 2025 ». If the fee is not paid, the application isn’t valid. When applying the competitors will upload a valid ID, this being used only for awarding prizes, with the protection of the personal data of the Competitors.

Any problem linked to the payment is on behalf of the applicant. In case of passing the application deadline the acceptance of the Competitor is at the latitude of the jury president.

The Competition Fee is to be paid in the accounts ::

Account Holder: Asociatia Ansamblul Baroc Transylvania

IBAN RON RO40BTRL01301205920774XX

IBAN EURO RO14BTRLEURCRT0092077404

SWIFT: BTRLRO22

The competition fee is non-refundable, except when the Competition doesn’t take place, in which case the refunding will take place in a delay of maximum 30 days from the cancellation announcement. If the fee isn’t paid, the application will not be valid.

Judging

The competitors evaluation will be made by the Jury, and the final mark results from the individual marks of the Jury members. The Jury’s decisions can not be contested, but the competitors are welcome to ask a personal opinion from members of the Jury.

General statements

The Competitors and their tutors give up totally and without exceptions any claims regarding audio-video recordings made throughout the entire Competition (including rehearsals, auditions and any other activities connected to the Competition), and pass the Organizer unrestricted rights of using these materials, following the laws and regulations valid in Romania and the European Community concerning the protection of personal data.

Each competitor will fill in and sign (through parents/legal representatives, if needed) a form that will allow the competition Secretary to use any personal data, photos and other audio-video materials. Nonfilling this form invalidates the application form without refunding the participation fee.

By the application fact the Competitor accepts all the rules of the competition, without any exceptions.

The jury is composed of eminent international professors and artists, whose integrity is guaranteed by their professional and artistic background. The organizers, together with the Jury members, commit to ensuring a competition environment free of conflicts of interest, namely to avoid situations where a Jury member might evaluate their own pupil or student.

The jury president may, in agreement with the Organizer, partially modify the provisions of these Regulations until the start of the competition, with immediate announcement of the changes on the Competition's website. It is the responsibility of the participants to follow the website to stay informed about the announcements posted regarding the Competition.

Registration

The candidates registration will be realized via the following link:

https://forms.gle/kKFDBezHhPqD44w88

Deadline: November 14, 2025

Contact

targumurespianocompetition@gmail.com

The piano used in the 2023 edition:

Yamaha CFX (2023 model), provided by Yamaha Music Europe and Soundcreation.

From the previous editions

Ivan Shemchuk - 1st prize, 2023 edition

Robert Bașcoveanu - 1st prize, 2024 edition

The piano used from the 2024 edition on:

Steinway Model D - concert grand, bought in 2024 by the Târgu Mureș State Philharmonic

• In the 2022-2023 season, Roman Fediurko and Izabela Voropciuc were soloists in two concerts with the Târgu-Mureș State Philharmonic. Roman performed the A minor Concerto by Robert Schumann, and Izabela the 1st Concerto by Frédéric Chopin.