Tibor Szemzo

Hungarian electro-acoustic composer Tibor Szemző was born in Budapest in 1955, beginning his musical studies at the Kodály method school at the age of six. Initially playing the violin, his subsequent discoveries of rock prompted a move to guitar; the influence of John Coltrane and Charles Mingus inspired Szemző to form his own jazz trio (later a quartet), and in 1979 he founded the minimalist ensemble Group 180. Embarking on a solo career in 1983, Szemző began integrating spoken word and visual elements into projects otherwise dominated by flute and live electronics, and in 1...