Elemér Duka, the excellent cellist, was born on November 2, 1991 in Budapest, as one of three children, the first born of a famous musical dynasty that can be traced back hundreds of years on both the maternal and paternal side.
At the age of 5, he started getting to know his beloved instrument, the cello, under the influence of his paternal grandfather, who he was also a cellist. Then at the age of 12 he was admitted to the Béla Bartók Conservatory, where the renowned cellist, Szilvásy László was his master.
He began his college studies at the Vienna Conservatory, but did not finish due to the tragic death of his father. Last year he decided to finish his studies, and he is currently a student of the classical violin major at the University of Pécs, where he studies with the solo cellist of the Hungarian State Opera, László Pólus.
His love of classical and Hungarian gypsy music has permeated his everyday life since childhood. We have seen and can see him play in countless excellent orchestras.
Between 2012 and 2015, he was the lead cellist of the Roma Hungaricum State Artists' Ensemble, all members of which are trained musicians, the members of which were selected by a professional jury during a rehearsal.
In 2016, he founded his own band, with which he played in a unique formation in Hungary as "primary" cello for 2 and a half years at the Centrál Kávéház.
In 2018, he received an invitation from Nándor Beke Farkas, the president of the 100-Member Gypsy Orchestra awarded by the Hungarian Heritage and Hungarikum.
During his classical musical career, he was the lead cellist of the Bohemian Virtuosi band founded by the two-time Grammy award-winning violinist Géza Hosszú-Legocky. with the world-famous Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich.
Since 2015, he has held the role of lead cellist in the Primarius Symphony Orchestra, founded by the world-famous violinist Zoltán Mága, as a member of which he toured several times in the United States, China, Japan, and Colombia.
During his years in the ensemble, he was able to appear on stage with such celebrities and world stars as the Canadian producer, pianist and composer David Foster, who boasts 16 Grammy awards, or the world-famous pianist and conductor Tamás Vásáry, with whom they were able to work together in organizing the Budapest New Year's Concert Series, as well as the Vienna New Year's on the occasion of a concert by the world-famous Russian violinist Zakhar Bron.
He gave an all-night concert with the orchestra in New York's Carnegie Hall, famous worldwide for its excellent acoustics, where the greatest classics of all time performed, during which he was able to play with the world-famous violinist Shlomo Mintz, and with the same orchestra he played for Pope Francis in the Vatican.
The artist has won numerous podiums in Budapest, national and international cello competitions. In 2020, he made his own, independent record at the Hungaroton Sound Studio, on which his favorite musical styles can be heard, with his classical chamber and gypsy band, in the genre of classical, gypsy music and film music. During the recordings, he played a duet with Erná Kállai, the concertmaster of the Hungarian State Opera House, as well as with Ditta Rohmann, head of the cello department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, and dulcimer artist Jenő Lisztes.
