Géza Szilvay was born in Budapest in 1943. He studied violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and violin pedagogy at the Budapest Academy of Music, where he graduated in 1966. He also studied law and political science at ELTE University in Budapest, where he obtained his doctorate in 1970.
Since 1971, he has taught violin at the Eastern Music Institute in Helsinki and, from 1978, also at the Sibelius Academy. In 1984, he was appointed Director of the Eastern Music Institute in Helsinki. The prestigious Helsinki Junior Strings orchestra (now known as Helsinki Strings) was founded by Géza Szilvay and cellist Csaba Szilvay in 1972, and both have led the orchestra ever since.
The Szilvay brothers have gained international recognition as string pedagogues and as conductors and educators of children’s and youth orchestras. In recognition of their work in favour of youth culture, they have received several distinctions: Order of the Finnish Lion in 1981, Finnish Culture Prize in 1983, Hungarian State Prize for Cultural Activity in 1990, Helsinki Culture Prize in 1995 and the ‘Pro Musica’ Prize in 1999. Géza Szilvay was awarded the prestigious Accent Prize from the Association of Finnish Music Institutes in 2005 and the International Kodály Prize in 2007.
The Colourstrings method has gained an international reputation and is now taught all over the world. Several institutions specialising in the Colourstrings method – schools, centres and associations – have been set up in various European countries to apply and further develop this child-centred teaching concept.
