Géza Szilvay

Professor Géza Szilvay is a violin pedagogue who has had a huge impact on musical education in Finland and worldwide. He is especially known for his promotion of children’s musical culture. Géza Szilvay studied violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and pedagogics at the Budapest Music Academy. He also studied law and political science at the ELTE University in Budapest and took his doctorate in 1970. Géza Szilvay and his brother Csaba developed the internationally renowned and successful Colourstrings approach to violin teaching in the early 1970s and have won several awards for recognition of their work. Szilvay has taught the violin at the East Helsinki Music Institute since 1971 and at the world-renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki since 1978. From 1984 – 2013 he was Principal of the East Helsinki Music Institute and in 2009 named as Professor by the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen. In 2013 Szilvay was awarded a Knighthood by the President of Hungary, János Áder.