When I started playing the classical guitar at age 15, I had no idea what do I want exactly. It crystallised years, decades later. I started with Carcassi’s guitar school, but after some time I left Classical guitar music and went over to Renaissance lute transcriptions. I felt Early music is much more pure and beautiful. This period took many years, I didn’t make lots of progress, because mainly played for pleasure and wasn’t exercizing at all. But Early music infuenced me greatly for the rest of my life. At age 18 I got a recorder. I learned sight reading with it, thus breaking the barrier of guitarists who learn everything by heart. I fell in love with the instrument and the repertoire so much, that I went to study music - for the first time in my life. Now this was serious, because I was against academic studies. Luckily my direction was so strong, that nobody could change it. After a few months, my first recorder teacher said, there is nothing more he could teach me, and sent me to Gabor Kallay. I got into cameri music and started playing on appearances. This was a great period, we made quality music at openings, events, small concerts and other occassions. In parallel, I was progressing with the guitar and started to play much more serious pieces, like Bakfark fantasias. I got received to Werner Conservatorium to the recorder department, led by Laszlo Czidra, the “Red Bruggen”. After a few weeks I quit, because of a few reasons: I had to work too, so it left me not much time. Plus I had a total lack of background in music theory. And I didn’t want to study all the subjects, I wanted only the recorder. Also I didn’t like the scene of hungarian Early music, and I didn’t see a future in it. I continued private lessons with Laszlo Czidra, who became my mentor and friend. He liked me as his own son, telling me stories of his extraordinary life. In this period I wrote pieces in Renaissance, Baroque and Classical style. I know I wasn’t creating anything new, but it was my love for music, which drove me. In these years I got into a friends’ alternative band as a bassist/guitarist and wrote two songs. At the same time, I got greatly influenced by jazz and started writing Bossa novas and guitar solos, calling them “Jazz Preludes”. At the age of 24, I decided to immigrate to Israel and devoted myself to get a profession. Studying and working took most of my time, for a few years I didn’t play much. Then I started to miss music, so I got back. I went to Striker consevatory and studied lute and cameri. I progressed in playing Basso continuo, until I could sight read figured bass. On the other hand, this was a period of musical searching and jamming in Tel Aviv. I met Anton Kapusta, who was listening to Hindustani classical, and I got into it very fast. It filled a hole in my musical life. I became enthusiastic about the bansuri, started to learn it and even tried to make a few, but from a very low quality bamboo. Anyway it was fun, and it became my third “main” instrument. I took private lessons from Ron Cohen for years, and progressed fast. Then I traveled to India to continue my studies. Took a few lessons from Ravi Shankar Mishra, but once I said “no, I won’t do it” to him and he terminated my studies immediately. I went over to Sameer Rao, who wanted only the money and didn’t really cared about me or my progress. Later I went to a workshop of Himanshu Nanda, who was so phony, that I quit after the first day. Anyway, listening to a few wonderful vocal concerts helped me to understand this music.
