5th January 2023

BISB Instrumental Tuition Programme

Welcome back to what we hope will be an exciting year ahead. At the British International School Budapest, we offer
students in Years 2 and above the option of taking private music lessons at school. Our team of highly experienced
music teachers are all professional musicians who speak English fluently. We currently offer lessons for the following
instruments:

• Guitar (electric, acoustic, classical)

• Percussion (drums, xylophone)
• Piano
• Woodwinds (clarinet, saxophone, recorder)
• Violin
• Cello
• Brass (Trumpet, French horn, Trombone)
• Voice (focus, jazz, contemporary styles) *TBC

Students have the option of registering for Trinity Examinations, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music
(ABRSM) and/or the Rock School performance exams. These exams take place in late May or early June. Talk with your
child’s instrumental teacher as soon as possible if you are considering exam registration.

Scheduling
Individual lessons last for 30 minutes and are scheduled throughout the school day, including co-curricular time, pre-
school, lunchtime and after school. Students having lessons during class time will be organised on a rota basis, with
the aim that no student will miss the same lesson more than once every half-term. In joining the instrumental
programme, parents agree to this option for timetabling. In view of their academic demands, Year 13 and Year 11
students will be allocated lessons outside of class time where possible.

If you would like your child to have more than one lesson a week, additional lessons are subject to teacher availability.

Cost
Each 30-minute lesson costs 4000HUF. The teacher will send you an invoice for each term. Payment is made by cash
directly to the teacher or by bank transfer. For Term 1 this is a 14-week programme running from 29th August – 9th
December 2022.

A register will be kept to ensure that students receive the lessons they have paid for. If a student forgets to attend a
lesson, every effort will be made to locate them. If it is not possible to locate the student, no credit can be given for
the missed lesson. If your child is going to be absent from school on their Music lesson day please notify the
instrumental teacher 24 hours in advance to inform them of the lesson cancellation, otherwise this may result in
payment.

COVID 19
Instrumental lessons will be subject to the school safety protocols. Should you have any specific questions on this
matter please do not hesitate to contact me.
Practice
Students and parents will appreciate that practice makes progress! All students will need to practise their instruments
5 times a week to improve. Guidelines for length of practice are as follows:

• Beginner 15-20 minutes per session.

• Intermediate (2 – 3 years tuition/Grade 1-4): 30 minutes per session.
• Advanced (grade 5 or above) 40 minutes per session.
• IB Higher Level diploma: at least 60 minutes per session.

Instrumental Rental
A limited number of instruments are available for rental from the school:

Clarinet/Flute/Saxophone/Acoustic Guitar/Trumpet/Trombone/French Horn/Cello/Violin.

For more information on conditions for renting a school instrument, please ask your specific instrumental teacher.

Registration
Attached are the professional biographies and contact information for our instrumental teachers. To schedule private
music lessons for your child, please contact the relevant teacher(s) directly via email. When contacting the relevant
teacher please specify the day that you require from the list below and the teacher will be in touch to confirm the first
week’s time slot once the lesson has been scheduled. Where possible, please ensure that the day you select does not
coincide with a swimming lesson or a CCA selection as this can restrict rotation for your child.

The programme is very popular, so we advise parents to sign up as soon as possible. We endeavour to provide this
opportunity for all interested students. However, in the event of over-subscription places will be offered on a first-
come, first-served basis and a waiting list will be opened.

Sarah James
Director of Performing Arts
[email protected]
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 Mr Peter Nánási
Email: [email protected]

Mr Peter Nánási is a graduate of the Music Studio of Kobánya.

He has over 10 years of experience in teaching guitar. Mr Nánási
is not just a teacher, but a composer as well. He writes music for
theatrical plays and TV advertisements alongside short and
feature films (www.peternanasi.com). He regularly performs as
a studio musician for various recordings. Mr Nánási plays in
several bands, performing rock, classical, jazz, and world music.
He has been teaching at BISB since 2008.

Mr János Lipcsei
Email: [email protected]
Mr Janos Lipcsei studied music at the Bartók Béla Secondary
School of Musical Arts. He holds a music performing and
teaching degree from the Music Institute of the University of
Pécs where he studied classical guitar and pedagogy.
Mr Janos then went on to study jazz guitar at the Egressy Béni
Conservatoire and also achieved his Classical Guitar Master
Degree at Bartók Béla Institute of Music.

He has many years of experience teaching classical, rock and

jazz guitar and has taught in music schools around Budapest.
Besides teaching, Janos writes his own guitar pieces as a
composer.
 Ms Zsofia Meszaros
Email: [email protected]
Ms Zsofia Meszaros completed her formal saxophone studies in
Vienna, Austria (Universitaet für Musik und darstellende Kunst
Wien) and Utrecht, Holland (Hoogeschool voor de Kunsten
Utrecht). A classically trained saxophonist, she also pursued a
second study in jazz. She is a highly sought after soloist and also
actively works in several ensembles.

Zsofia has over 10 years' experience in teaching Saxophone,

Clarinet and Recorder alongside her work as a Music Therapist.
More information: http://zsofiameszarossax.wixsite.com/zsofia

Mr Kristof Kovacs
Email: [email protected]

Mr Kovacs is a graduate of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

After being offered a scholarship, he spent three years at Illinois
State University where he received his master’s degree. He then
spent one year in the doctorate programme at Michigan State
University. While completing his studies, Mr Kovacs won the
concerto composition at both universities. He has extensive
teaching experience in the United States and in Hungary, and he
has been teaching at BISB since 2007.
 Mrs Michelle Gargan
Email: [email protected]
Michelle achieved her Diploma in Piano Performance and
Teaching in 1996 with the London College of Music at the
University of West London. She later attended the Dublin
Institute of Technology where she achieved an honours degree
in 2002. Michelle has gained extensive experience teaching
children of all ages both in Ireland and during her time abroad.
In 2009, Michelle set up her own private Music School in Dublin,
teaching a large number of students, preparing them for both
practical and theory exams with the Royal Irish Academy of
Music. She has a passion for introducing the basis of
instrumental skills to young children in an innovative and
enjoyable way whilst also maintaining a high standard and
helping her students achieve excellent results at exam level.

Ms Katalin Zsubrits
Email: [email protected]

Katalin is a Hungarian pianist. She studied piano performance in

Budapest, Hungary and has a postgraduate diploma from the
UK. After her studies she spent seven years in the Middle East
(Kuwait, Qatar, UAE - Dubai and Abu Dhabi) as a solo pianist
where she strived to create awareness of the benefits and
importance of music education by teaching piano for children
and young adults and organizing piano recitals for them. She
has worked with the Mid Wales Opera as repetiteur and was a
member of the Vienna Opera Academy Faculty in 2020. More
recently she has been working with the Hungarian State Opera
House and has established ‘Opera Studio Sopron’ which had its
first event in May with international coaches and singers.
 Mr Laszlo Kiss (Piano + Guitar)
Email: [email protected]

Mr Laszlo Kiss started playing music at the age of 7. In 2007,

after many years of learning piano and guitar he was admitted
to the University of Debrecen, where he gained his Degree of
Guitarist (MSc) and Degree of Teacher of Music Performance
(MSc) under the guidance of Dr. Istvan Adrovicz.
As an active performer, he has played in several countries,
including the UAE, Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Russia and the
Czech Republic. At his concerts he often plays the baroque
guitar which he learnt during his university years.
He has over 10 years experience in teaching piano, guitar and
ukulele. Beside his classical music activity he is member of the
band ’From The Sky’.

Mr Juan Ortega
Email: [email protected]
Born in Pereira, Colombia, Juan started violin studies at the age
of 12 with Professor, Fredy Muñoz. He made his undergraduate
studies at Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia, under
Carlos Rocha, Gonzalo Ospina and Williams Naranjo. With the
support of the Academia Filarmónica de Medellín, Juan moved
to Budapest to pursue studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of
Music and in 2014 was awarded the Stipendium Hungaricum
Scholarship, allowing him to complete two master’s degrees:
violin performance in 2017 and music education in violin with
highest honours in 2018. As an orchestral musician, Juan has
performed and toured with various orchestras and ensembles.
He currently performs in Vác Civitas Symphony Orchestra and is
a violin teacher and orchestral couch at Lajtha László Music
School in Budapest.
 Ms Anna Kempton
Email: [email protected]

British-Hungarian cellist Anna Kempton graduated from the

Mozarteum Salzburg and has a Masters in Performance from
the Royal College of Music, London. Her diverse freelance
career has included performances of Bach’s St Matthew
Passion with the Aylesbury Sinfonietta and, as part of the Orion
Orchestra, with Deep Purple at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as
the musical drama The Dreamers and charity recording sessions
with the London Symphony Orchestra. For many years, she
taught at the North London Conservatoire, where she also
conducted two cello ensembles. She moved to Budapest in
2021 and is looking forward to teaching cello at BISB this
academic year.

Mr Matyas Fieszl
Email: [email protected]

Mátyás Fieszl is a Hungarian trumpet player based in Budapest.

Mátyás enjoys a diverse career playing in every musical
formation from classical to jazz. As a performer, he frequently
works in studios as well as with orchestras in Budapest, such as
the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Hungarian Chamber Orchestra,
Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra. As a teacher, he works
with beginners at the Járdányi Pál Music School in Budapest
and students who aim to become musicians at the Pikéthy
Conservatory in Vác. Mátyás earned his BA degree from the
University of Pécs in Instrumental Performance, then spent two
years at Bard College in the US doing the Advanced
Performance Studies program. He finished his studies at
University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he earned his
Master degree.