Biography

A native of Hungary, Árpád Balázs studied composition throughout Europe during the mid-twentieth century, including work with Aram Khachaturyan and Goffredo Petrassi. The recipient of numerous national awards, including the Erkel Prize (1970), Hungarian National Artist of Merit (1981), the Gold Medal of the President of the Republic (2000), and the Hungarian Heritage Prize (2002), he is regarded by his contemporaries as one of the standard-bearers of the Hungarian musical tradition of which Zoltán Kodály was the first master.

On September 10, 2019, Arpad Balazs was honored by the community of Kiskunfélegyháza, Hungary, by having a school named after him, "The Balázs Árpád Elementary School of Art" in Kiskunfélegyháza.

In 1969, Arpad Balazs was awarded the sole SZOT Award (Hungarian Heritage Award) for a Composer. The annual award is a Hungarian state award given for outstanding achievements in various arts for outstanding work.

In 2020, Árpád Balázs, with his son, composer Ádám Balázs, wrote and arranged the song "Miserere mei, Deus" for the film Spiral (2020), directed by Cecília Felméri.

Adding to an already impressive creative collaboration, Árpád Balázs, internationally renowned classical composer and father of film composer Ádám Balázs, contributed his famous Hungarian children's song -- Elderflower (Bodzavgirág) -- to the production of Sing (2016), directed by Kristóf Deák, and the recipient of the Academy Award for "Best Live Action Short".