András Mihály

András Mihály (1917–1993) was a Hungarian cellist, composer and academic teacher. He was born in Budapest and studied there at the Franz Liszt Academy: cello with Adolf Schiffer, chamber music with Leó Weiner and Imre Waldbauer, and composition with Pál Kadosa and István Strasser. In 1946, he was the principal cellist of the Budapest Opera and in 1950 became a professor of chamber music at the Franz Liszt Academy. In 1967, he founded the Budapest Chamber Ensemble, dedicated to the repertoire of contemporary music, and from 1978 to 1987, he was the director of the Budapest Opera. He was notably the teacher of all four of the original members of the Takács Quartet: violinists Gábor Takács-Nagy and Károly Schranz, violist Gábor Ormai, and cellist András Fejér. Mihály composed the opera Együtt és egyedül (Together and Alone, 1965–66), three symphonies, a cello concerto (1963), a violin concerto, a piano concerto (1954), a concerto for wind quintet and orchestra (1955), Monodia for orchestra (1970), chamber works, piano pieces, choral music and lieder. He died in Budapest at age 75.