Csaba Zoltán Marján

 
Csaba Zoltán Marján was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary in 1983. He started to play the piano at age of 8. In 1998 he was admitted to the Secondary School of Art Nyíregyháza where he began his percussion studies with Csaba Joó. He continued his studies under the guidance of István Szabó at the University of Debrecen Faculty of Music and obtained his Master Degree in Percussion Performance and Teaching in 2007. He is currently studying at the Sibelius Academy on Music Performance/Percussion master degree programme.

In Hungary he has studied piano with Ottilia Radics; percussion, timpani and chamber music with Csaba Joó and István Szabó; orchestra material, etude and technique development with Gábor Kérdő.

He continued his studies in Finland, he studied percussion, orchestra material and timpani with Pasi Suomalainen, Antti Rislakki and Olli-Pekka Martikainen; timpani with Lassi Erkkilä; and traditional African and Latin-American hand drums with Sami Koskela.

He has obtained the following prizes: 1st prize at the National University Percussion Solo Competition in Hungary (2005), Semifinals at the International Marimba Duo Competition in Belgium (2004), 3rd Prize at the National University Percussion Solo Competition in Hungary (2004), and 2nd Prize/Special Award at the National University Percussion Solo Competition in Hungary (2003).

Mr. Marján has attended many masterclasses and courses held by Robin Engelman, Anders Lougin, Nancy Zeltsman, Keiko Abe, Eric Sammut, Ady Morag and more.

Early in his studies, he started to perform with orchestras such as the Szabolcs Symphonic Orchestra, in the Debrecen Symphonic Orchestra, and in the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra.

From 2005 to 2008 Mr. Marján was a member of the SONUS Percussion Ensemble. This group was formed in 2005 in Debrecen under the guidance of István Szabó. The main purpose of this group was to perform and popularize the contemporary music for percussion ensemble. This ensemble performed at a number of festivals and concerts in Hungary as well as abroad in Poland, Slovakia, and Japan. During this time with the ensemble Mr. Marján became interested in composing. As a result, he made several transcriptions for this ensemble and this work inspired him to start to work on his own musical ideas. His first composition for marimba solo, entitled Niflheim, was written in 2008. After it had been published by Edition Svitzer, the piece was selected to be the obligatory piece at the 9th Edition Italy Percussion Competition in Fermo, Italy in 2011.

During his studies in Finland he has played in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, in the Helsinki Radio Symphonic Orchestra, and in the Avanti! Chamber Music Ensemble. In 2010 he was employed by Budafoki Dohnányi Ernő Symphonic Orchestra (Budapest) where he had a chance to peform with such artists and musicians as the pianist and conductor Zoltán Kocsis, the jazz pianist Szakcsi Lakatos Béla and world-famous pop musician Sting. At that time Mr. Marján was also a teacher in Rácz Aladár and Ádám Jenő music school. Recently he has performed with several orchestras of Budapest such as the Budapest National Opera Orchestra, the Máv Symphonic orchestra and the Danubia Symphonic Orchestra. He is currently employed by the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn.