“A name to remember,” listeners of the Hungarian Radio New Music Magazine were told at the beginning of his career—and István Lajkó’s countless first prizes at competitions and memorable concerts have ensured that this has indeed proven true. Lauded by the international music press as “a gifted connoisseur of the music of Bartók” and “a wizard of the keys,” his interpretations of Liszt are considered among the finest in Europe.

Two of his CDs were nominated for the International Classical Music Awards, in 2018 and 2024. His Liszt album received the Editor’s Choice Prize from Gramophone Magazine and the 40th Record Grand Prix of the Liszt Society.

A recipient of the Junior Prima Prize, he studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, at music colleges in Hanover and Weimar, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Ferenc Rados, Dmitri Bashkirov, Mikhail Voskresensky, Anne Queffélec, Matti Raekallio, Murray Perahia, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Arie Vardi.

He has achieved outstanding results in many national and international competitions. At the Pécs International Liszt Competition, he won Third Prize; at the Carl Filtsch International Piano Competition, he received First Prize and the Composer’s Special Prize. In 2006, he secured Third Prize at the International Liszt–Bartók Piano Competition, First Prize at the Leó Weiner Chamber Music Competition, and a Special Prize at the European Union Piano Competition in Prague. In 2013, he won the Grand Prix, First Prize, and two Special Prizes at the International Liszt–Bartók–Ligeti Piano Competition.

In 2022, he was decorated as a Knight of Universal Culture. He has been a soloist for the concert series New Masters on Tour and has performed across Europe, as well as in China and the United States. He has appeared at major festivals including the Hummel Festival in Bratislava, the Janáček Festival in Ostrava, the Chopin Festival in Pristina, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and at Wigmore Hall in London.

In 2017, he performed at the opening concert of a festival held at the Berlin Konzerthaus in honour of Sir Alfred Brendel. The maestro was so impressed by his performance that he has since offered ongoing guidance to support István Lajkó’s artistic career.

Lajkó has given solo recitals at prestigious venues such as the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, and the Rachmaninov Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow.

He has worked with conductors such as Zoltán Kocsis, János Kovács, Nicolás Pasquet, Markus L. Frank, and Katharina Wincor. As a soloist, he has performed with leading ensembles including the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, MÁV Symphony Orchestra, Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Anhaltische Philharmonie, and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz. His performances have been recorded by Hungarian Radio, the BBC, and German radio MDR.