János Fürst Passed

The Ulster Orchestra has learned with great sadness of the death in Paris of conductor János Fürst. He was 71 and had been ill for some time.

János Fürst was the Ulster Orchestra's first-ever Leader, appointed when the Orchestra was founded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 1966. Some years later he became the Orchestra's Assistant Conductor, before leaving Belfast in June 1971 to further his conducting career.

János Fürst was to have returned next week to conduct the Ulster Orchestra in concerts with pianist Barry Douglas in Dublin's National Concert Hall, sponsored by Ulster Bank, and the Belfast Waterfront Hall. Those concerts will go ahead and have been dedicated "with real affection" by the Ulster Orchestra to his memory.

The Ulster Orchestra is delighted that Kenneth Montgomery has agreed to step into the breach at very short notice.

"This is the Orchestra's 40th birthday season and we had been particularly looking forward to welcoming János back because he was our first-ever Leader and Assistant Conductor before his conducting career took off," said David Byers, the Orchestra's Chief Executive. I remember some of those concerts he directed and there was so often a real buzz of excitement and sheer vitality about them."

"We are so relieved that Kenneth Montgomery has been able to rearrange his commitments and conduct both concerts with the same repertoire. Barry Douglas is the soloist in Brahms's First Piano Concerto- so with Ulster Bank as sponsor it's an all-Belfast team!"

Kenneth Montgomery is currently the Ulster Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor and next season becomes its Principal Conductor.

János Fürst (1935-2007)

The Ulster Orchestra was deeply saddened to learn of the death on 3 January of János Fürst at the age of 71. He had been ill for some time. He studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest where his teachers included Kodály and Ligeti. As a refugee from the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, he completed his studies in Brussels where he was awarded a Premier Prix at the Conservatoire. He arrived in Dublin in 1958 to take up the position of a violinist with the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra and in 1963 he founded the Irish Chamber Orchestra in its original guise.

In 1966, when the Ulster Orchestra was formed, János Fürst was appointed its first Leader and some years later its Assistant Conductor. Many recall with great affection and gratitude the vitality and rhythmic dynamism of his music-making - a vibrant Bartók Divertimento is still remembered with excitement.

János left Belfast in June 1971 and his major break into conducting came in London the following year when he stood in for an indisposed Rudolf Kempe at the Royal Festival Hall. In 1987 he succeeded Bryden Thomson as Principal Conductor of the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra. He also held principal conductorships in London, Malmö, Aalborg, Marseilles and Winterthur. He worked with major orchestras across Europe, the USA, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. For nine years he was Music Director of Marseilles Opera and also conducted for English National, Scottish Operas, and most recently at the Royal Stockholm Opera.

János Fürst was deeply concerned with the teaching of conducting. He published a book, Up Beat, Aspects of Conducting, which contains many personal insights into the art and in 1997 he was appointed Professor of Conducting Studies at the Paris Conservatoire. Just last month he was appointed to a similar professorship at the RCM in London. In recent years he gave a number of memorable concerts with the Ulster Orchestra, including three of Nielsen's Symphonies.

He was much concerned about the development of young musicians and gave many masterclasses.

His performance of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in the final concert of the LSO's Bruckner Cycle was greeted with much acclaim. -- www.ulster-orchestra.org.uk