Magyar, Gabriel (1914-2011) | University of Illinois Archives

Gabriel Magyar (December 5, 1914- June 8, 2011) was a world renowned cellist and Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1972-1980. Born in Budapest under the name Gabor Magyar, he studied at the Franz Liszt Royal School of Music, working with Zoltán Kodály, Leo Weiner, Antal Frisch, and Jeno Kerpely. Before the outbreak of WWII, Magyar gave the Hungarian priemere of Darius Milhaud's Cello Concerto. Magyar's career was interrupted when he was detained at a concentration camp during WWII.

After he was released in 1941, Magyar emigrated to Venezuela. In 1949, he moved to the United States, where he accepted a position at the State University of Oklahoma from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, Magyar became a member of the world famous Hungarian String Quartet, replacing Vilmos Palotai as cellist in the group. The Hungarian String Quartet toured internationally, performing and recording music by composers such as Béla Bartók. After the Quartet disbanded in 1972, Magyar joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he inspired his colleagues and students well after his retirement.

Gabriel Magyar was also a talented artist, and his drawings were exhibited in the Urbana-Champaign area during the last ten years of his life. Magyar was a highly regarded musician, and he received numerous awards for his work as a cellist during his lifetime, including the Bartók Béla-Pásztory Ditta Award and the Grand Pris du Disque in Paris. Magyar retired from the University of Illinois in 1980, but gave performances until 1990. Magyar died in Urbana, Illinois on June 8, 2011.