Attila Jurth : Represented Artist
Attila Jurth (pronounced ewert) was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1945. He wrote his first composition in 1956, and from 1961 to 1962 attended the Music School of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, studying piano and theory. Having been awarded a government scholarship to study engineering in Leningrad, Jurth moved to Russia in 1963. During this time he gave piano recitals and won first prize in composition in the City of Leningrad Music Competition.
Jurth migrated to Austria in 1969 and continued further studies at the University of Vienna in translating/interpreting, international law & economics, political science and musicology. He became the chief organist of the Hungarian Roman Catholic Diocese in Vienna in 1970, a position he held until 1982. From 1972 he privately taught solfeggio, music theory and musicianship.
Having married a Hungarian born Australian in 1975, Jurth emigrated and settled in Brisbane in 1982. Following his arrival he increasingly turned his attention to various aspects of music. In 1985 he became a registered Kodaly Piano Teacher as well as a member of the Music Teachers' Association of Queensland. In the same year he was appointed to establish a course in Hungarian at the University of Queensland, which was the first such course at an Australian university. Since 1996 he has been the organist of the Hungarian Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinist) Church Congregation of Queensland.
Most importantly, however, Jurth has established himself as an ethnic composer in Australia and a composer of educational chamber music. His output is characterized by singable melodies, logical harmonies and transparent forms. In response to the musical development of his children, Jurth specialised in writing arrangements and original compositions for 'uneven string ensembles', where the cello has the most advanced part while one of the violins is assigned the least demanding role. In Australia his works have been publicly performed since 1984, most of them premiered by the LKGT Quartet.
Jurth became a composer represented by the Australian Music Centre in 1989. As of 2004 his works are available in computerized notation of commercial print quality.
Attila Jurth now lives in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
Biography provided by the composer