Orsolya Bartoš Vági – cellist
I am a Hungarian cellist based in Prague, and my vocation is both performing and teaching. I feel deeply connected to the worlds of classical and folk music, while I also listen to a great deal of jazz and popular music. Drawing inspiration from these influences, I am constantly seeking new ways to experience and share music.
In 2006, I initiated the educational concert series for children, Já Muzikant, which I have been leading together with the singer Pavla Švestková for over ten years.
My musical path began at the Kodály Zoltán Hungarian Choir School in Budapest, the first institution based on the Kodály method. This school provided a highly versatile education: alongside singing, we took part in craft workshops, instrumental lessons, psychodrama, music and movement, folk dance, and many other activities.
I continued my studies at the Bartók Béla Conservatory and later at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (M.A.) with Professor István Csurgay, further developing my knowledge under the guidance of renowned masters such as Valter Despalj, István Varga, Miklós Perényi, Zoltán Onczay and László Mező.
Important milestones in my life include Hokkaido (Japan), where I lived between 2006 and 2007, and Gothenburg (Sweden), where in 2008 I studied for one year as a scholarship student with the distinguished cellist Harro Ruijsenaars – former solo cellist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.
From 2010 I served for ten years as deputy solo cellist of the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra. After a longer maternity leave I am still a member of the orchestra, and I regularly perform with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra as well as with several other ensembles in Prague.
Alongside orchestral work, I enjoy singing, composing, arranging, and performing in solo and chamber concerts. I am open to diverse and creative musical projects, I like to explore the worlds of jazz and other genres, bringing my singing voice into performances and expanding musical possibilities with the use of a looper pedal.
At the beginning of my career, besides performing and teaching, I also worked in my father Gyula Vági’s organ-building company, where I contributed to the international distribution of Continuo organs.