Balázs Szokolay (ˈbɒlaːʒ ˈsokolɒj) (born in Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, 1961) is a Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 pianist.

His international concert career started in 1983, replacing Nikita Magaloff

Nikita Magaloff

Nikita Magaloff was a Georgian-Russian pianist.He was born in Saint Petersburg to a Georgian noble family named Maghalashvili. Magaloff and his family left Russia in 1918 for Finland and then Paris, where he studied with Isidor Philipp, chair of the piano department at the Paris Conservatory...

 at a concert in Belgrade. Four years later he was appointed a professorship at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music

Franz Liszt Academy of Music

The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...

. Throughout his career he has been awarded 14 competition prizes (Zwickau's Robert Schumann, Leeds

Leeds International Pianoforte Competition

The Leeds International Piano Competition informally known as The Leeds takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess of Harewood and Fanny Waterman, who is today its Chairman and Artistic Director. The competition was first held in 1963...

', Brussels' Queen Elisabeth

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition

The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions has been, since its foundation, considered the world over to be one of the most prestigious and most difficult. It is devoted to violin , piano , to composition and to singing...

, Munich's ARD, Terni's Alessandro Casagrande, Monza's Rina Sala Gallo, etc.).

In 2001 the Hungarian Government awarded him the Liszt Prize.