Péter Somordai

Péter Somodari was born in Veszprém, Hungary, and began his cello studies at the age of 4. Between 1997 and 2003, he gained important impulses at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and at the Academy of Music in Saarbrücken as a student of Miklós Perényi, László Mező and Gustav Rivinius. He has been awarded numerous prizes in music competitions, the first prize at the 2005 Cello Competition in Markneukirchen being one of the most significant.

He has performed with renowned artists such as Leonidas Kavakos, Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, Boris Pergamenschikov, György Kurtág, Truls Mork, Miklós Perényi, Alexei Lubimov, Tugan Sokhiev, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and as soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic.

From 1997 he was a member of Budapest Strings, and has occasionally also performed as a soloist with the ensemble. From 2001 he was cellist with the Keller Quartet, during which time he was briefly a member of the Hungarian State Opera. He has been principal cellist with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and principal cellist with the Vienna Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012.