I was born in Budapest and, out of all my classmates, I was the one who lived closest to the Béla Bartók Conservatory and, later on, the Franz Liszt Academy of Music as well. Although this might be part of the reason why I became a musician, the reality is actually a bit more complicated. I was born into a musical family, and my parents' greatest dream was for me to play in the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra. This was a wish that I was fortunately able to grant to both them and myself directly after graduating from the Liszt Academy, as I have been a member of the orchestra since 1988. I had also joined the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester under Claudio Abbado in 1985 and spent five years with them. It was there that I fell in love with the genre of symphonic orchestral music. It was a huge experience to be led into the "realm of music" by such an individual along with so many enthusiastic and talented young people. Between 2002 and 2003, I served as the concertmaster of the ELTE University Concert Orchestra, which earned me the school's Pro Universitate award. The best part of this role was being able to help shape the productions, rather than just being a "cog in the machine". What I really like at the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra is being in one of the few orchestra that takes no liberties or shortcuts with the music: we play every note precisely and in its correct place. When it comes to interpreting the works of Bartók, we feel we are unbeatable, which can be credited primarily to Zoltán Kocsis, as he instilled in us the emotions that were evident to him along with his musical solutions. I love how we work with so many "musical delicacies", which are always a new challenge and a guarantee against monotony. When somebody has to clear a hurdle, they are also capable of overcoming their own limitations and developing further. For me, the best part of playing music in a group is the way that everyone's level of concentration can come together and cumulatively add up to create something that has never been heard before.