Bálint Kovács
About
Bálint Kovács is an award-winning recorder player and baroque bassoonist, recognised at several international competitions. His playing is characterised by lightness, virtuosity, emotional depth and stylistic flexibility. He performs as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player on both instruments. At Freiburg University of Music, he contributes to the professional training of recorder students with a creative and collaborative approach.
His studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and Mozarteum University Salzburg have given him a deep understanding of instrumental technique as well as historical and contemporary performance practices.
His projects vary in instrumentation and format, with repertoire ranging from the early Baroque to contemporary works and his own compositions. Originally from Hungary, he is currently based in Salzburg.
Projects
Beispiel A multidisciplinary ensemble bringing contemporary art into dialogue with essential questions of our time. „Das Salzburger Ensemble BachWerkVokal zählt nach mehr als 10 Jahren zu den renommiertesten Interpreten für die Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs.” – ORF Five musicians create a vivid world of contrasts through original works and their own arrangements. A recorder orchestra exploring the sound possibilities of the instrument family from sub-great bass to sopranino. An international ensemble devoted to historically informed performance of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music. A long-term collaboration presenting original, neobaroque and historically inspired recorder repertoire. Moiré combines concert culture with multidisciplinary artistic formats. Its projects connect different art forms, invite reflection and create personal experiences for an open-minded audience. The ensemble formed in Salzburg and combines finely nuanced expression, energetic tempi and lyrical intimacy. In 2022 it won first prize at the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival Competition. Under Bálint’s artistic direction, the formation brings together professional recorder teachers from the Upper Austrian Music School System. Its work centres on shared music-making, exchange and ambitious repertoire. Cameo explores arrangements tailored to its distinctive instrumentation. The ensemble searches for detailed articulation, fresh colours and nuanced interpretations inspired by historical performance practice. The historically informed ensemble draws attention to lesser-known Baroque repertoire and Bálint’s own compositions. Since 2018 it has also accompanied the Baroque Wedding festival in Győr. Solo Projects
Collaborations as soloist
Genesis Fragmentes
Genesis Fragmentes
Ensembles
Ensemble Moiré
Ensemble BachWerkVokal Salzburg
tone:scape
Blockflute Formation
Ensemble Cameo
Simplicissimus Ensemble
Ensemble Moiré
tone:scape
Blockflute Formation
Ensemble Cameo
Simplicissimus Ensemble
Academics
Master of Arts · Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy, Recorder · 2026
Master of Arts · Instrumental Performance, Recorder · 2024
Bachelor of Arts · Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy, Recorder · 2022
Bachelor of Arts · Instrumental Performance, Recorder · 2021
Preparatory Studies · 2016–2017
Masterclasses
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg · since 2025
Music School of Upper Austria · 2023–2025
Music School Teaching · Austria & Switzerland
Masterclasses
Sir Ian Stoutzker Prize · Salzburg, Austria · 2023
Finalist Prize
XII International Recorder Competition · Nové Zámky, Slovakia · 2023
1st Prize · Soloist Category for Academic Students
Overall 1st Prize
International Tel Aviv Recorder Competition · Tel Aviv, Israel · 2022
1st Prize · Professional Soloist Category
International Tel Aviv Recorder Competition · Tel Aviv, Israel · 2020
3rd Prize · Professional Soloist Category
International Tel Aviv Recorder Competition · Tel Aviv, Israel · 2019
3rd Prize · Professional Soloist Category
ERPS International Recorder Competition · Bolzano, Italy · 2019
Finalist