Pianist Tibor Szász was born in 1948 in Cluj-Kolozsvár, Romania, from Hungarian parents. His piano studies began at the age of four, and at the age of thirteen, he won a competition to study with Eliza Ciolan (a pupil of Alfred Cortot). His debut as a concerto soloist came at the age 16 with conductor Antonin Ciolan (a pupil of Arthur Nikisch).

In 1967 Tibor Szász became a Laureate of the George Enescu International Piano Competition held in Bucharest, Romania. In 1968, he made a highly successful West-German debut, afterwards hailed as “the pinnacle of talent coming from behind the Iron Curtain”.

After studies in United States with Leon Fleisher, Theodore Lettvin, Russell Sherman, Miklós Schwalb, and Charles Fischer, Tibor Szász distinguished himself as the first prize winner in three international piano competitions, including the William Kapell International Piano Competition in 1974.

He has given over 1000 solo, concerto, and chamber music performances in Romania, Germany, Canada, France, England, Spain, Hungary, Taiwan and the United States. His recordings of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Bartók have been issued in the United States and Germany.

Tibor Szász holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, U.S.A.. He has held the position of Professor of Piano at Bowling Green State University, the University of Dayton, and Duke University.

Since 1993, Mr. Szász has served as Professor of Piano at the University of Music in Freiburg, Germany. Prof. Szász gives master classes all over the world (Europe, America and the Far East).

He has lectured extensively on the music of Liszt, Mozart, Beethoven, and Enesco. His articles on the music of these composers have been published in the United States, England, France, Germany, Holland, and Romania.