Varga Marián

Marián Varga was born on 29th January 1947 in Skalica. He was 6 years old when he started to attend a common school of arts, and at the same time took private composition lessons from professor Ján Cikker. Later on, he became a student of the Bratislava School of Music where he studied piano in the class of Roman Berger, and composition in the class of Andrej Očenáš.

After three years of study he left the School of Music, and soon afterwards he became a member of Prúdy, the band with which he recorded the legendary album "Jingle, bells" in 1969. But suddenly, just as he left the School of Music, he abandons Prúdy, and founds the first art-rock band in Czechoslovakia, Collegium Musicum.

Prevalent in the band´s repertory are instrumental compositions, comprising re-interpretations of classical music themes (Haydn, Bartók, Stravinskij ...), and original compositions bearing the first signs of artistic post-modernism (Euphony from the album Convergences), which is the essential principle of his current music.

After the dissolution of Collegium Musicum (1979), Varga chose for himself the role of a lonely runner, and as one of the first musicians in the country he followed the concept of absolute improvisation, which means composing music in the real space and time.

In the meantime, he also created songs, and working together with Pavol Hammel they released five albums, and composed the first rock musical in the country.