Joint concert of Szilárd Ferenc Kovács and Ducza Nóra

Organist Szilárd Ferenc Kovács and singer Nóra Ducza already performed together at the 2025 OrgonaPont Festival. Both artists are well-versed in the early periods of music history, yet contemporary works are also close to them - in fact, Szilárd Ferenc Kovács is active as a composer as well.

Szilárd Ferenc Kovács obtained his higher musical qualifications at the Faculty of Music of the University of Debrecen, then pursued postgraduate organ studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He completed his PhD studies in Finland in 2011 at the University of Jyväskylä. Between 2003 and 2014 he taught organ as a major subject at the Piano Department of the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Music, music theory at the Department of Music Theory, and liturgical improvisation at the Department of Church Music. He currently teaches organ, music theory, analysis, transposition and score reading at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs. One of his most outstanding professional achievements was winning third prize at the 1999 Liszt International Organ Competition in Budapest, making him the best-ranked Hungarian competitor. Kovács transcribed his own improvisations, resulting in the publication of Laudate Dominum, a collection of preludes and intonations, in 2007. His first solo CD, Organum Incarnationis, was released in 2009, marking his public debut both as a performer and as a composer. He is currently the organist of Pécs Cathedral.

Opera singer Nóra Ducza graduated from the Kodály Zoltán Hungarian Choral School, where her vocal coach was Ilonka Adorján, and continued her studies privately under Zsolt Bende. She studied voice at the Bartók Béla Conservatory of Music, then at the Teacher Training Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. Between 2004 and 2006 she studied acting, speech technique and stage movement at the Studio of the Új Színház. From 2005 she also pursued private voice studies at the University of Szeged Faculty of Music under the guidance of Mária Temesi. After graduating she was admitted to the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, where she took part in postgraduate opera training as a student of Krisztina Laki, and also studied in Donald Sulzen’s Lied class. She has participated in numerous masterclasses led by distinguished artists, including Walter C. Moore, György Vashegyi, Júlia Hamari, Yevgeny Nesterenko, Sylvia Sass, Adrienne Csengery, Éva Marton, and Ionel Pantea. She has been a finalist or prize-winner in several competitions and has received numerous scholarships over the years. She made her debut at the Hungarian State Opera in 2007 in the role of Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro).