Miklós Mohay was born in Budapest in 1960. His father, Dr. Béla Mohay, was a language teacher and translator at the Budapest University of Technology, his mother, Mária Katanics, was a Liszt Prize-winning conductor and music teacher. He was the second son in the family, was born to an environment where culture and music were part of everyday life, a natural medium.
His mother was the founding choirmaster of the renowned Szilágyi Nőikar (Szilágyi Women's Choir) and a respected and much-loved teacher, so it is likely no coincidence that choral music forms a large part in Miklós Mohay's repertoire. His seven years in the Liszt Ferenc Kamarakórus (Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir) under István Párkai further increased this affinity.
His education began at the same school where his mother taught and served as music academy trainer, namely the Kodály Zoltán Ének-zenei Általános Iskola (Kodály Zoltán Vocal Music Primary School) in Marczibányi Square, Budapest. He started playing the cello at an early age and graduated from the conservatoire with a degree in cello and composition. His composition teacher was Miklós Kocsár, his cello teacher was Ottó Kertész.
The Liszt Academy was a natural choice, and he was placed in a composition class held by Sándor Szokolay. His teachers included Sándor Balassa, József Soproni, Attila Bozay, Zoltán Pongrácz, Kamilló Lendvay and László Almásy.
He graduated as a composer and secondary school teacher of music theory in 1984.
As a high school student, he became a member of the orchestra of the Budavári Nagyboldogasszony templom (Church of Our Lady of Buda), now known as the Mátyás-templom (Matthias Church) in Buda Castle, and was a cellist there for about 15 years. He had maintained a close relationship with the choirmaster, László Tardy, ever since, and in 1985, he and István Horváth completed a harmonization of folk songs for organ under the name Éneklő Egyház (Singing Church) (Budapest, Szent István Társulat (Saint Stephen Company), 1986). The work was never published. As a member of the Matthias Church orchestra, he played 30-40 masses and concerts each year, and even sang in the choir. Since 1991, his visits to the orchestra and choir have been less regular, but he occasionally joins the group to play, sometimes as assistant conductor.
Miklós Mohay always had a fondness for church music. Since 1998, he served as choir master of the Szent László plébániatemplom (St. László parish church) in Angyalföld. They rehearse weekly, preparing for church holidays by playing for masses with orchestra or organ accompaniment, 5-6 times a year.
The following works have been performed with the ensemble over time:
Mozart: Missa brevis in G, K. 49, Liszt: Via crucis, Mozart: Missa brevis in D, K. 194, Mozart: Missa in C, K. 258 and 259, Johann Michael Haydn: Requiem in C minor, Johann Michael Haydn: Requiem in C minor. In 2006, at the invitation of the Magyar Katolikus Püspöki Kar (Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference), he was the soloist for the national pilgrimage to Fatima (Portugal).
It is perhaps no coincidence that Miklós Mohay chose Mozart's sacred works as the topic of his 2004 DLA dissertation at the Liszt Academy, which he defended summa cum laude under the music theory subprogram of their composition program (the dissertation is entitled Mozart ünnepi miséi – Öt esettanulmány (Mozart's Festivity Masses – Five Case Studies).
As a member of the Liszt Ferenc kamarakórus (Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir) conducted by István Párkai, he has participated in numerous concerts, radio and recordings in Hungary and on tours abroad. With the choir he has performed in Poland, Italy, France, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The choir's repertoire consisted almost exclusively of works - from the Renaissance period to present day - not performed by others. They have premiered many works by Hungarian and foreign composers.
At the request of István Párkai, he served as co-conductor of the international choir and director of the student choir delegated by the Liszt Academy for the annual International Youth Festival (Internationales Jugend-Festspieltreffen) in Bayreuth, for 3 to 3 weeks in 1985 and 1986. The choir rehearsed six hours a day; he often shared the work with the choir director, with instructions in German. In the first year, they performed Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, the next year Liszt's opera Don Sanche. A few concerts were given in villages in the area, also conducted by Mohay.
His interest in teaching was fully developed in secondary school. Éva Bántainé Sipos, the soloist of the Bartók Konzervatórium (Bartók Conservatory), played a special role in this; she was a legendary teacher, whose lessons not only developed his written and oral skills, but also provided an extraordinary musical experience. Her approach to teaching – a close connection between theory and practice, and the development of a conscious, skillful combination of the two – became a defining principle in the development of Miklós Mohay's teaching attitude. He studied composition and cello at the same time, and for a long time intended to teach cello. After graduation, however, he applied to the Liszt Academy to study composition and conducting. He was accepted to both, but did not complete the cello course.
His teaching career began in 1983, as a fifth year student at the Opera Department of the Színművészeti Főiskola (Academy of Theatre and Film Arts), where, at the invitation of Kamilló Lendvay, then head of the Music Theory Department, he taught solfege and music theory to four students of different ages and attributes, with very different backgrounds. One of them, Béla Tímár, a renowned theatre artist, died unexpectedly shortly after graduating. Judit Galgóczy and Péter Kalmár have gone on to work as directors, while Viktor Nagy has held various positions, including chief director of the Hungarian State Opera.
From 1984 he was a TA at the Liszt Academy (at the time the College of Music) for two years, teaching singing students and preparatory courses. His students included Gergely Bogányi, Izabella Simon, Mária Kovalszki and many others. Two of his singing students, Zsuzsanna Bazsinka and Andrea Ulbrich, became internationally renowned opera singers.
From 1985 he taught at the Music Department of the ELTE Teacher Training College Faculty of Music for 16 years, first as assistant professor, then, from 1989 as adjunct professor, and from 1993 as associate professor. Since the department was young, he had both opportunity and obligation to establish the curriculum and requirements, and to develop the teaching system.
In 1998, while still holding his previous position, he taught music theory and sheet music reading to secondary school singing teachers and choir conductors at the Music Theory Department of the Liszt Academy, at the invitation of Katalin Komlós, head of the department. Many of his first students here are now successful high school teachers or choral conductors, working in Hungary and abroad. A notable example is Zoltán Kocsis Holper, whose outstanding achievements were recently recognized when he received an international award. Two of his other students, Zoltán Pad (currently principal conductor of the choir of Magyar Rádió (Hungarian Radio)) and Árpád Tóth, have become nationally renowned choirmasters, and are now his peers holding DLA degrees.
In 2001, he was appointed to a full-time assistant professor position, thus completing his work at ELTE. In the years that followed, his work included teaching instrumental and vocal musicians, church music students in the field of solfege music theory. Most of his students were choir conductors, singers and string players, including Júlia Hajnóczy, Adrienn Miks, Beatrix Fodor, Gabriella Fodor, Orsolya Mód, Ádám Banda.
In 2004, he was appointed associate professor by rector Sándor Falvai. From 2002 to 2011, he also taught at the Faculty of Music (formerly: Conservatory) of the University of Debrecen, mainly voice teacher majors. In addition to solfege and music theory, he taught score reading, analysis, counterpoint and instrumentation. In addition to teaching, he was actively involved in the organisation of the annual Bárdos Symposium, and the development and implementation of associated programmes. The Symposium is an important and useful forum where music teachers share their experience and professional skills. He has given several lectures at the Symposium and held training sessions in conjunction with the Symposium for colleagues attending the accredited training course.
He was appointed professor in 2007, and university professor in 2013.
He habilitated at the Liszt Academy in 2009. The title of the lecture was: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber egyházi művei a salzburgi dóm architektúrájának tükrében (The Religious Pieces of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber with Reference to the Architecture of the Salzburg Dome).
Back in 2005, for a few months, he served as vice-rector under rector András Batta. In 2007, he succeeded Katalin Komlós as Head of the Music Theory Department. In 2011, due to departmental restructuring, this position was changed to group leader of the Department of Musicology and Music Theory. In the autumn of 2015, the University Senate re-established the Department of Music Theory, and since January 2016, he once again serves as the Head of the Department.
Miklós Mohay also puts great emphasis on maintaining contact with students outside the classroom. Accordingly, he consults with musicology and music theory students for the preparation and assessment of their term papers, and assists them as advisor for the preparation of their theses.
After Ernő Lendvai's unexpected death in 1993, at the request of Lendvai’s wife Erzsébet Tusa, he co-edited, together with Miklós Szabó, the book Szimmetria a zenében (Symmetry in Music). The book highlights the key concepts of Lendvai's life's work, in English, Hungarian and German. (The first English version of the book was also used as a basis for a Japanese edition.) Miklós Mohay believes that authentical education can only be provided if the teacher, in addition to any pedagogical activity, is active in his or her chosen artistic vocation. This is why he puts great emphasis on continually practising as composer, creating and performing compositions. He is in regular contact with musicians, artists and teachers. He actively participates in national and international professional life and events, offering lectures and training courses.
He understands that constant, continuous renewal must be held as a priority. It is important not to teach the same material even to the same type of groups. He actively follows research in music theory and musicology, including both Hungarian and foreign literature. Students are extremely grateful for this approach, and Miklós Mohay is one of the most popular teachers at the Academy.
Since the beginning of his career, Miklós Mohay has maintained close relationships with choir conductors, instrumentalists and vocal performers. As most of his works are choral in nature, it is primarily through these that he relates to the audience. He has always ensured that his works are singable, and are enjoyable for conductors. He wants to please as many people as possible, but it is important to him that learning and performing his pieces is an experience in itself. He writes both secular and ecclesiastical works. The languages he uses are similarly varied: in addition to Hungarian, his repertoire includes Latin, German, Romanian, Croatian and Slavic languages.
His choral works are performed by both prestigious and lesser known choirs, including: Magyar Rádió Énekkara, Nemzeti Énekkar, Cantate Vegyeskar, Angelica Leánykar, Monteverdi Kórus, Pro Musica kórus, Bárdos Leánykar, Musica Nostra Énekegyüttes (Hungarian Radio Choir, National Choir, Cantate Choir, Angelica Choir, Monteverdi Choir, Pro Musica Choir, Bárdos Choir, Musica Nostra Choir, etc). These choirs bring his pieces to performances, festivals and competitions at home and abroad, and sometimes make radio or LP and CD recordings. They have also been invited to participate in many official competitions (Bartók Béla Nemzetközi Kórusverseny (Béla Bartók International Choir Competition) in the City of Debrecen and the City of Szeged, and the Bessenyei György Teacher Training College [now the University of Nyíregyháza], etc.). Many conductors have personally invited him to write compositions (including Zsolt Szesztay, Péter Erdei, Éva Kollár, Zsuzsánna Mindszenty, László Tamási, Péter Ordasi, Adrienne Vinczeffy, Gabriella Dohány).
His works in other genres are regularly performed, and the Magyar Rádió (Hungarian Radio) has recordings of many of them.
Since the 1990s, his compositions have been performed at several concerts abroad, mostly by Hungarian, but also by foreign choirs (Germany, France, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine, Cuba, Argentina, Turkey).
In 1995, he was invited by the city of Tours, France, to write a choral work for the 1600th anniversary of the death of Saint Martin. The piece premiered in Tours in 1996 (performed by the Monteverdi Choir and Éva Kollár, organ by Soma Dinyés).
In 2003, the Bárdos Choir (Bárdos Leánykar), under the direction of Zsolt Szesztay, won a special prize for performing one of his choral pieces in Austria.
His choral works have won prizes at numerous composer competitions. Several of his choral pieces have been published and distributed in Hungary by Editio Musica Budapest and other publishers, and abroad by the German Edition Music-Contact.
He has made transcripts for piano of popular excerpts from Tchaikovsky's ballets: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, I-II (Budapest: Könemann Music, 1999)
Besides his artistic work, Miklós Mohay is an enthusiastic participant of academic life. He publishes articles and studies in Hungarian journals and volumes.
He collected and published the pedagogical journal writings of Lajos Bárdos The first volume was entitled Elemző írások a zenéről (Analytical Writings on Music). He has given scientific lectures at conferences, training courses and at the Bárdos Symposium.
Notable topics include: Verdi „titokzatos" skálája, Harmóniaelemző újítások Bárdos Lajos műhelyében, Dvořák: Az Újvilág szimfónia II. tétele, Mozart Kyrie-tételei, Bartók zenéjének jellemzői, Mozart miséi, Mozart: Öt divertimento K.439b, elemzés, A magyar zeneoktatás helyzetéről (the “mysterious” scale of Verdi, Innovations in Harmony Analysis in the Workshop of Lajos Bárdos, Dvořák: Symphony of the New World, movement II, Mozart's Kyrie movements, Characteristics of Bartók's music, Mozart's masses, Mozart: Five Divertimento K.439b, Analysis, On the state of Hungarian music education, etc).
In 2011, he gave an academic lecture on Liszt's Via Crucisa in German at an International Liszt Conference in Weimar, Germany.
He held two semester-long training courses for singing and music teachers: at Budapesti Művelődési Központ (Budapest Cultural Center) in 1989, and at the Fővárosi Pedagógiai Intézet (Budapest Pedagogical Institute) in 1992. In 1988 and 1989, as part of the 10-day summer courses offered by the International House Budapest, he taught about 60 hours of solfege, music theory and analysis in English to foreign music teachers.
He is proud to act as head of the examination board at various music vocational schools.
Miklós Mohay also considers the education of the next generation to be a key issue, which is why he contributes to the work of the University's doctoral school. So far, he has served as opponent for 25 DLA dissertations, and was a member of thesis committees in 29 other proceedings, several times as chairman. On two occasions, he has been invited to participate in a habilitation committee.
He summarised his credo as a teacher in a lecture: “If we, ourselves, constantly train, that is obviously useful. However, through our own character and by a visibly positive attitude, by demonstrating that we want to deliver, and not just get through something that we know the students don't like (and perhaps we don’t like), we can make the subject attractive. According to Lajos Bárdos' Three T's theory (and practice): if the Teacher loves the Theme and loves Teaching, those they Teach will learn to love the Theme itself. This should be our goal! Everything is decided when we go into the classroom and teach to the best of our ability.”[1]
[2016]
[1] http://www.parlando.hu/2011/2011-2/2011-2-03_Mohay.htm