Marta Hidy

Marta Iren Hidy (January 11, 1927 - November 4, 2010) was a Hungarian Canadian violinist, conductor and music teacher. In addition to being an accomplished musician, she was a founding member of the music program at McMaster University.

Biography

Marta Hidy was born in Budapest, Hungary on January 11, 1927. Her father was an economist and her mother, who enrolled Hidy at the Franz Liszt Academy at the age of six, was a violinist. While at the Academy Hidy was instructed by violinists Ferenc Gábriel and Ede Zathureczky and the composers Leó Weiner and Zoltán Kodály. At the age of 16 she was named outstanding violinist in an academy's Reményi Competition by a jury led by Ernő Dohnányi.

Hidy continued to perform throughout her career both alone and in the company of other accomplished musicians. In 1973 she was a founding member of the Hidy-Ozolins-Tsutsumi Trio. Comprising pianist Arthur Ozolins and cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, the trio toured Ontario and performed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The following year Hidy formed the Ensemble Sir Ernest MacMillan and in 1978 Hidy joined cellist Zdenek Konicek and pianist Valerie Tryon to form Trio Canada. Outside of her ensemble work, Hidy performed as a concerto soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic and the Regina Symphony Orchestra and performed internationally in a solo capacity in countries including New Zealand, Hungary, Japan, China and Hong Kong. At the time of her death conductor Boris Brott, the music director of the HPO from 1969 to 1990, explained: "Marta was an extraordinary musician, a natural violinist, and a wonderful teacher, a person who exuded music from her every pore." Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (1993)