International Classical Music Awards Honor Péter Zombola as Composer of the Year

Hungarian composer Péter Zombola has been named Composer of the Year 2026 by the international jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). This is the first time a Hungarian composer has been awarded the Composer of the Year prize.

The ICMA is one of the most prestigious awards for classical music worldwide, presented annually by an international jury of experts in several categories. The jury is chaired by Rémy Franck, editor-in-chief of the Luxembourg music magazine Pizzicato. The members of the jury are professional music critics from the world’s leading music magazines, online platforms, and radio stations. Hungary is represented by the music magazine Papageno, the Manna cultural association told MTI on Tuesday.

Péter Zombola was born in Budapest in 1983. He began his training at the Bartók Béla Music School and continued at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he graduated with honors in composition and music theory. He received his doctorate in 2010, his habilitation in 2018, and became a professor in 2024.

His works are regularly performed at renowned Hungarian and international festivals. He is active as a composer and university lecturer in both Europe and the United States. He currently teaches at the Faculty of Music at the University of Debrecen and at the Károly Eszterházy Catholic University in Eger.

His work focuses on large-scale orchestral and vocal works. Of particular note is his oratorio trilogy: Requiem (2012), Passio (2015), and Kaddish, currently in progress, all of which are works for large orchestra and choir. His compositional style is characterized by a combination of minimalism and neo-baroque thinking.

He has received numerous prestigious awards for his work, including the Erkel Ferenc Prize, the Bartók Pásztory Prize, and the Artisjus Prize.

For me, composing is both an escape from the world and a connection to it – self-therapy in sound,”

the announcement quoted Péter Zombola, who added that a combination of coincidences, luck, and persistent work had brought him to where he is today, and that he hoped talent was also part of this balance.

The main goal of the ICMA is to promote musical achievement and creativity at the highest level and to popularize classical music.

The international jury has previously honored recordings by György Vashegyi, Ádám Fischer, and Géza Anda, but this is the first time a Hungarian composer has been recognized.

This year’s winners will receive their awards on March 18 at the annual awards ceremony in Bamberg.

The award ceremony will be accompanied by a gala concert featuring numerous works by the award-winning artists performed by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Péter Zombola is preparing for the prestigious event, which will be broadcast live by several European television stations, with two movements from his work Passio.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt

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