István Várdai
was born in Pécs, Hungary, in 1985. At the age of twelve he was admitted to László Mezö's class for "exceptionally gifted" musicians at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. In 2005 he moved to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna to study with Reinhard Latzko. He also attended masterclasses given by Natalia Gutman, János Starker, Natalia Shakhovskaja, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet and András Schiff. In 2010 he was awarded the two-year Boris Pergamenschikow Scholarship at Kronberg Academy's Cello Masterclasses.

István Várdai has received prizes and awards at numerous international music competitions. He won the David Popper International Music Competition in Budapest three times (in 2000, 2003 and 2004). In 2006 he was awarded a special prize at the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuerman in Berlin as well as first prize in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Austria. In 2007 he was a laureate at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and in 2008 at the Geneva International Music Competition. István Várdai's debut CD, on which he plays Elgar's Cello Concerto, the Prokofiev Sonata and Janácek's Pohádka with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève conducted by Simon Gaudenz, was released on the Nascor label in 2009. In 2010 he recorded the Cello Concerto in C major by Johann Baptist Vanhal with the Camerata Swiss and Howard Griffith and in 2013 several variations together with Walter Delahunt.

Since his debut concert in 1998 in The Hague, István Várdai has performed with numerous major orchestras. He has worked with conductors such as Ádám Fischer, Howard Griffith, Zoltán Kocsis, Josep Pons, Nicolás Pasquet, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Marcus Bosch, Roman Kofman and Simon Gaudenz. In 2010 he participated in Chamber Music Connects the World where he played chamber music with Gidon Kremer, Tatjana Grindenko, Yuri Bashmet and András Schiff. From 2010-2013 he studied as a Young Soloist at Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson. Since 2013 he has been a member of Kronberg Academy Masters' faculty as well as artistic director of the Emanuel Feuermann Konservatorium. Mr. Várdai plays a cello by J.Cuypers (1763) and a modern instrument by Carsten Hoffman.