Viktor Haraszti

Saxophonist and composer Viktor Haraszti (1972) was born in Hungary and lives in the Netherlands. He is also a multi- instrumentalist, producer and sound engineer. At the age of seven Viktor started playing the piano and at the age of eleven he chose the clarinet. In 1990 he obtained his diploma for clarinet at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest. Jazz influenced his musical life in the late 1980s, after he attended a Fats Domino concert in Budapest. In these turbulent 80s of the last century, Viktor also became passionate about Rock & Roll. This inspired him to focus on saxophone. Through Rhythm & Blues and playing with various local bands, he also became more and more interested in jazz, especially when he came into contact with the music of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, among others, which he discovered while working in the music library. A leap forward in time: in 2005 Viktor graduated cum laude for saxophone at the Utrecht Conservatory in The Nederlands. His travels and work with musicians from Africa, Portugal and Brazil led him to rediscover his Hungarian musical roots. As a result, he has developed musically into a musician and composer with a multicultural creative interest and focus.

In the latest years, Viktor created ViOmusic, his creative platform, and record label. In 2018, as a musician bandleader of ViO, he released four singles (EP) that were internationally well-recognized as an innovative project. The EP was recorded live in virtual reality, ViO 360° LIVE, was a collaboration with renowned Dutch musicians, Remco van der Sluis (Jan Akkerman band) - drums, Taco Nieuwenhuizen - bass, Edgar van Asselt (Jorge Vistel) - Keys. The project acclaimed 3rd place on the 7 Virtual Jazz Club Contest's social media round and received good international reviews.

Currently, Viktor is busy releasing his first studio album, "Equanimity: A Futuristic Jazz Tale'' is a solo project under the label ViO. The music expresses duality (chaos/surviving) in disordered times using electronic and futuristic style, deep melodies combined with sonic elements, and progressive fusion of rhythms. The album holds performances with renowned American drummer Dave King ( The Bad Plus), Lisa Marie Simmons, vocalist/lyricist, and more. Release date 12.12.2021.

Awards

7 Virtual Jazz Club Contest, Web Community Prize 3th place, ViO - "Haiku" by Viktor Haraszti

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