The Katona Twins are a Hungarian

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

duo, composed of identical twins Péter and Zoltán Katona. They have performed at prestigious venues and at major music festivals around the world. Their performances and recordings have been widely reviewed by the music press. and they have been described as "the classical world's best-known guitar duo". The Katonas' repertoire includes Classical music,

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

and Spanish guitar. They have also adapted and arranged classical works for guitar duo. Their album releases have included works by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, Scarlatti,

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

and

Ástor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements fr ...

. They also perform works by de Falla and Castelnuovo-Tedesco, as well modern composers such as

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (; 21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamen ...

, and concerti for two guitars and orchestra by

Rodrigo Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the la ...

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

and

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Biography

The identical twins Péter and Zoltán Katona were born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary in 1968. From the age of ten they studied, both individually and as a guitar duo, at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music in Budapest with Ede Roth, the Academy of Music in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

with Wolfgang Lendle, and the ''Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Tanz'' (Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts), in

Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

with Michael Teuchert, Germany. They also studied under Michael Lewin at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in London. Celebrated artists in their own right today, the twins in turn give masterclasses to younger musicians. They made their

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

debut in 1998. The Katona Twins have toured widely, playing in Ireland; they have played at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

and

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London, and at the Cheltenham International Music Festival in 2004, with the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...

Michael Berkeley Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and non-party political member of the House of Lords, speaking as an advocate for the arts, contemporary music and music ...

composed a double concerto for performance by the twins there. Their concert schedule for 2007 included venues in Japan, France, Germany, and the United States.

Awards

*First Prize, "''Concours International de Guitarre en Duo''",

Montélimar Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; ) is a town in the Drôme Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the second-largest town in t ...

, France (1993) *First Prize, "''International Music Competition for Guitar Duos''",

Bubenreuth Bubenreuth is a municipality in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. Location Bubenreuth is located near the river Regnitz and ca. 4 kilometers north of Erlangen with which it's structurally connected. Neighboring towns are ...

, Germany (1993) *Cultural Prize of the City of

, Germany (1993) *S. T. Johnson Foundation prize (1995) *The

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

prize (1996) * Young Concert Artist Trust auditions in London (1997) *Concert Artists Guild Competition, New York (1998) *Borletti-Buitoni prize (2004), the trust's first ever award to guitarists.

Other

The Katona twins served as jury members for the 2nd International Guitar Festival Heinsberg 2007

Discography

*''Isaac Albéniz, España, Iberia, Mallorca'', (1997), Channel Classics CCS 10397 1 *''Joaquín Rodrigo, Concierto Madrigal''; ''Tonadillas'', (1998), Channel Classics CCS 16698 1 ''Reviews'': Musicweb, Editor's Choice, ''Gramophone'', Feb 2002 *''Sonatas – Scarlatti & Handel'', (1998), Channel Classics CCS 14298 ''Reviews'': The Flying Inkpot *''Ástor Piazzolla, Le Grand Tango'', (2004), Channel Classics CCS 19804 ''Reviews'': Classics Today, Audiophile Audition, Oakland Tribune Klassik.com *''Piazzolla, Mozart, Granados, de Falla'' *''J.S. Bach'', (2013) Channel Classics CCS SA 34713

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katona Twins 1968 births Living people Hungarian classical guitarists Twin musical duos Identical twin males Male musical duos