Matyas Gayer is one of the few leading figures in the new generation of jazz musicians and known to be one of a handful of young pianists who is successfully forging his own distinctive style and musical voice out of the greatness of a jazz piano tradition. Here at World Heart Beat we have the pleasure of working with Matyas. He is mentoring our young jazz students, in a repertoire and performance class setting.
Matyas Gayer, the Hungarian pianist, first fell in love with the music at the age of five. Gayer has been showing passion to straight ahead, mainstream jazz and has been already performing on various stages such as Palace of Arts, Budapest since the early teenage years. Gayer founded his first band and won Hungary’s young talent competition, the Golden Ten Award at the age of 14. Then Gayer started his professional music studies under the tutelage of Karoly Binder, head of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. In 2009 Gayer performed at Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia.
Matyas won first prize and was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, Boston. Afterwards, Gayer continued his musical studies in Austria, at the University of Performing Arts Graz, under the direction of Olaf Polziehn, and he received Bachelor of Arts Degree with honour. In 2012 the Generations International Jazz Festival selected Gayer for piano and was awarded the opportunity to record a CD in the famous Winterthur Studio in Switzerland and play with some of the jazz world’s elites, including Louis Hayes and Peter Washington.
Building on his success, Gayer was invited to the illustrious Luzern Piano Festival, where he performed as the youngest participant. He was a member of Jim Rotondi’s electric band between 2012-2014. Gayer often goes to New York and collaborates with some of the greatest musicians in jazz. Gayer played at well-known establishments in New York including Club Bonafide. Matyas Gayer Trio featuring the saxist, Sandor Molnar won first prize at Internetional Zilina Jazz Contest, 2015. In both year of 2014 and 2015, Matyas Gayer was finalist at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition. In 2015 he won the most prestigious Hungarian jazz prize, the Gramofon Award. Matyas Gayer received honorary Master’s Degree in 2018 at the Private University of Music and Arts, Vienna.
Beside being a performer the hungarian pianist plays an important role as an educator in Central Europe. Matyas Gayer held workshops with many talented children in music schools in varying countries such as Austria, Hungary, Macedonia. The young pianist has played with many of the jazz’s greats such as Jesse Davis, Jim Rotondi, Grant Stewart, Luis Bonilla, Don Menza, Dusko Goykovich, John Fedchock, Stjepko Gut etc. and has performed in many countries including England, Scotland, France, Germany, Croatia, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Macedonia, Latvia, Austria, Switzerland and their best known Jazz Venues: (Porgy and Bess, Jazzland, Konzerthaus Vienna, Birds Eye Basel, Jamboree Barcelona, Club 606 London, Unterfahrt Mu?nchen, Jazzkeller Frankfurt, Vortex London, Glasgow Art Club, Edinburgh Jazz Club, KKL Luzern, etc..).
“Audiences and fellow musicians alike cannot help but come under the spell of his playing – not so much because of his sheer technique, which is incidentally amazing to be sure, as on account of the superb originality and resourcefulness with which he approaches even the best-known standards and makes them his own.” Budapest Jazz Club, 2014