Sarik Peter
He was born in 1972 in Cegléd, Hungary.
He studied at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, where he earned a degree in 1997. Later, he studied classical music under the tutelage of Ilona Prunyi.
Throughout the years, he has proven himself in practically all genres, in addition to jazz – he has played classical, pop, Latin and world music.
In 2002, he joined Jazzpression, which quickly became one of the most popular jazz formations in Hungary. They won the 2004 Emerton Award as the “Jazz Band of the Year”. Three of their records were published, and they achieved great success all over Europe.
He founded his own band in 2007, called “Peter Sarik Trio”. The team was re-established in 2012, with the joining of Tibor Fonay and Attila Gálfi. The Peter Sarik Trio swiftly became one of the leading jazz bands of the country. Four of their records have been published so far, and the record entitled “Jazz Request Show” became a ”gold record” within four months of its publication, and received the 2014 Fonogram Award as the “Best Hungarian Jazz Album of the Year”.
He has been the founder and member of countless formations, and he has been giving regular concerts in recent years with – among others – the following performing artists: Juli Fábián, Tamás Berki, Barna Pély, Mariann Falusi, Myrtill Micheller, Luiza Zan, István Gyárfás, Dávid Hodek, Random Trip.
In 2015 he received again the Fonogram Award as the “Best Hungarian Jazz Album of the Year”, with Tamas Berki, for our live concert CD.
As a composer, he has attained significant international success; his compositions regularly achieved podium positions (top three) at various songwriting competitions in the United States and the United Kingdom. In 2011, the Association of Hungarian Composers recognized his life work, till that point, with the Orszáczky Award.
The jazz fairy play entitled All the Treasures of the World, written for children, was published in 2009, which he authored in cooperation with co-composers. This piece was nominated for the 2014 Fonogram Award in the “Children’s Album of the Year” category. The audiobook was later adapted to theatre. The main purpose of the project was to introduce the jazz genre to the youngest generation and popularize it among them.
Since 2013, he has been working as the composer and music director of the Recirquel Newcircus Company. He has composed three pieces for the Company so far, in various musical genres, from symphony to jazz.
He was a recipient of the 2010 Artisjus Award, and was elected an Honorary Citizen of the Town of Cegléd, in 2014.