Tibor Varga

Tibor Varga (4 July 1921 – 4 September 2003) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, and world renowned music teacher who developed pedagogic methods for teaching string music. He was a founding member of the string department in the Detmold music conservatory.

Varga was born in Győr, Hungary, in the same region that witnessed the birth of Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Carl Flesch as well as of the famous conductor Hans Richter. Young Varga took his first lessons at the age of two and a half with his father Lajos Varga, who was also a violinist. Due to an injury during the War, Lajos Varga had to abandon his projects to be a concert artist and became a violin maker.

Coming to the attention of Jenő Hubay, Varga was enrolled at the Budapest Franz Liszt Academy when only ten years old. There, he studied with, among others, Zoltán Kodály and Leó Weiner. After Hubay's death (1937), Varga was chosen to be the soloist in the memorial concert, playing the 3rd Violin Concerto op. 99 by Hubay under the direction of Ernő Dohnányi, who in 1934 had become Hubay's successor as the Rector of the Liszt Academy. On completion of his musical studies at the Liszt Music Academy, Varga devoted himself throughout the war years to studying philosophy at the Budapest University.