Tamás Ungár of the School of Music piano faculty has been named "Teacher of the Year" by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). He will receive the honor during an Awards Brunch at the 2013 MTNA National Conference at the Disneyland® Hotel in Anaheim, California, March 13. The MTNA Teacher of the Year Award recognizes an individual teacher who has made a significant difference in the lives of students, has contributed to the advancement of music in his or her community and is an outstanding example of a professional music educator.

 

Ungár is founder and executive director of PianoTexas International Academy & Festival held on campus every summer. A world renowned educator, he has taught piano for 53 years and attracts students from across the globe. Ungár has taught at the Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Poland, and given master classes in Germany, England, Poland, Austria, Estonia, Finland, Canada and Sweden. Since 2006, he has been artistic director of the Beijing International Piano Festival, an annual event that attracts students and teachers from all over China and neighboring countries. In 2010, Ungár received the prestigious Presidential Scholar Program’s Teacher Recognition Award. Prior to his present position at TCU, Ungár taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, London’s Purcell School and the University of California at San Diego.

 

As a pianist, Ungár has performed concertos with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared as soloist/conductor in Mozart Piano Concertos at the University of Leeds, where he was artist-in-residence, and given recitals and master classes at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. Ungár records exclusively for Cala Records.

 

MTNA is a nonprofit organization of independent and collegiate music teachers committed to furthering the art of music through teaching, performance, composition and scholarly research. Founded in 1876, MTNA is the oldest professional music teachers’ association in the United States.