Antal Zalai started his classical violin studies at the tender age of five and went on to graduate from het Koninklijk Conservatorium van Brussel in 2009, under the guidance of Kati Sebestyén. Before his time in Brussels, he was under the guidance of László Dénes, Péter Komlós, and Jozef Kopelman in Budapest. Furthermore, Zalai enriched his musical education by participating in masterclasses led by Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Erick Friedman, Tibor Varga, Lewis Kaplan, and György Pauk.
At the age of 15, he achieved international acclaim by performing Bartók's Violin Concerto No.1 at Lord Yehudi Menuhin's 80th anniversary tribute gala concert in the Grand Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest on October 1, 1996. Throughout his career, Zalai has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Paavo Järvi, Yoel Levi, Lawrence Foster, Gilbert Varga, Shlomo Mintz, Ludovic Morlot, Laurent Petitgirard, Enrique Bátiz Campbell, Yip Wing-sie, and Gábor Takács-Nagy.
In 2008, he made his debut in the UK, performing Glazunov's Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, conducted by Ludovic Morlot. He repeated this performance at his Berlin debut the same year, as a soloist with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berliner Philharmonie.
In April 2010, Zalai had his Viennese debut at the Vienna Symphony's "Frühling in Wien 2010" gala concert, conducted by Fabio Luisi, at the Wiener Musikverein. He earned this opportunity through an online competition on the internet platform Talenthouse.
As a recitalist, Antal Zalai has graced stages including the Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall in New York City, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C., the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Concert Hall of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, among others.
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