Bernáth Ferenc (Hungarian: Bernáth Ferenc; Chop, 1981) is a virtuoso guitarist, composer, PhD in Art History, public figure, and Ambassador for Peace.
He was born on July 15, 1981, in Transcarpathia to a Hungarian family. He grew up in the village of Tihlash in a family of intellectuals.
He started playing the guitar at the Chop Children's Music School, and later studied at the Uzhhorod College of Arts in the class of F. Smerichko. He received his higher education with honors and a degree in concert performance and teaching at the Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotliarevsky, class of Professor Volodymyr Dotsenko. In the same educational institution, he defended his dissertation and received the degree of Candidate of Sciences (supervisor - Yulia Nikolaievska).
Since 2007, he has been living in Budapest (Hungary), where he is the head of the Department of Stringed Instruments at the Beni Egreszi Institute of Arts and a guitar teacher at the Vienna Conservatory Budapest (a branch of the Vienna Conservatory in Budapest). His students have won more than 60 music competitions and festivals.
Charitable activities
Ferenc Bernat annually gives a number of charity concerts to help various organizations, hospitals, orphans, etc.
In 2014-2015, he gave a series of concerts to help Ukraine.
In 2020, the Universal Peace Federation awarded Ferenc Bernat the title of Ambassador of Peace for his significant charitable work.
Concert activity
He is an active concert artist, performing solo programs and as a soloist accompanied by symphony orchestras. He is a member of the jury and conducts master classes at international guitar festivals and competitions. He performs at international festivals where he popularizes Ukrainian-Hungarian classical and folk music. He is invited to screen premieres, including the most significant ones:
Dmytro Malyi: "Concertino for Guitar and Symphony Orchestra", Kharkiv 2013, premiere.
Leo Brower: "Elegiac Concerto No. 3, for guitar and orchestra", Budapest 2012, Hungarian premiere.
Gabor Kerek: "Concerto for Two Guitars, Block Flute and Percussion" Nyiregyhaza 2005, premiere.
He also premiered a number of other works and his own arrangements: D. Zador, L. Brauer, Brahms, Hordienko, Stasiuk, and others.
Since 2017, he has been an honorary member of the Guitarists Association of the National All-Ukrainian Music Union of Ukraine.
Some of his performances
International Contemporary Music Festival "Contrasts", Lviv, 2013.
International Festival of Classical and Contemporary Music "Constellation of Transcarpathia", Uzhhorod, 2013.
International ethno-jazz festival "Art of Tolerance", Yevpatoria, 2013.
International ethno-jazz festival "Art of Tolerance", Kharkiv, 2013.
International Festival of Ukrainian Music, Zalets, 2013.
International Folklore Festival, Székesfehérvár, 2013, 2011.
Concert of Ukrainian and Hungarian music, Veszprém, 2013, 2011.
Festival "Gala of Hungarian Nationalities", Budapest, 2013, 2008.
New Year's gala concert of Hungarian nationalities, Budapest, 2013.
Festival "Autumn of Ferencvaros", Budapest, 2012.
International Festival "Music Without Borders", Uzhhorod, 2012.
International Guitar Festival "Chords of the Lake", Balatonakali, 2013.
International Festival of Classical Guitar Music "Autumn Colors", Rivne, 2013.
International Guitar Festival "GITAS", Kyiv, 2013.
International Festival of Guitar Art, Kharkiv, 2012.
Day of Ukrainian Culture in Hungary, Budapest, 2009.
Concert in memory of Taras Shevchenko, Komarom, 2009.
International Guitar Festival, Balatonfüred, 2008, 2007 (eight solo concerts were performed during eight days at this festival. The festival was twice awarded a Guinness World Record).
International Guitar Festival "Dnipro Constellations", Kyiv, 2008.
J. Duarte International Guitar Festival, Rust (Austria), 2008.
J. Mertz International Guitar Festival, Bratislava (Slovakia), 2008.
International Folklore Festival of Kishtarch, 2008.
International Opera Festival, Miskolc, 2008.
International Folklore Festival, Rijeka, 2008.
International Guitar Festival, Szeged, 2005.
Millennium International Guitar Festival, Östergom, 2001.
Awards.
Grand Prix of the International Guitar Competition "Guitar Renaissance" (Belarus, 2021)[1].
Ambassador of Peace from the Universal Peace Federation for significant charitable work (Budapest, 2020).
1st prize at the International Competition "CaspiArt World" (Turkey, 2019).
1st Prize at the International Composition Competition "CompoGuitar" (Kyiv, 2018).
Grand Prix at the International Composition Competition "Transcarpathian Edelweiss" (Uzhhorod, 2018).
David Arts Award (Budapest, 2016).
Taras Shevchenko Award from the Ukrainian World Congress for significant cultural contribution and strengthening of Ukrainian-Hungarian cultural relations (Budapest, 2014).
The ARTISJUS award for significant contribution to music education in Hungary (Budapest, 2012).
For the preservation and popularization of national values in Hungary, the award "Pro Cultura Minoritatum Hungariae" (Budapest, 2012).
Diploma for significant cultural contribution and strengthening of international relations between Ukraine and Hungary (Simferopol, 2012).
Guinness World Record Diploma 2008, 2007.
Discography
"Feelings and Moods" (Érzések és Hangulatok), solo, CD, Záhony 2005.
"Lyrical Melodies" (Lírai dallamok), flute-guitar duet, CD, Budapest 2009.
"The Magic of the Guitar" (Gitár Mágia). Concert on DVD, Budapest 2011.
"Double Paraphrase" guitar duo, CD, Miskolc 2012.
"Children's Fun" (Gyerekjáték). Characteristic pieces for classical guitar. Sheet music + CD, 2012.
"Magic of the Carpathians" guitar duet. CD, Budapest, 2017.
"Preludes Landscapes". Sheet music edition of the author's works for solo guitar, Budapest 2019.
