Martin Rajna is one of the most outstanding young conductors emerging from Hungary. He is the chief conductor of the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra, and is also selected for the mentoring programme of the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation, where he works with masters such as Péter Eötvös, György Kurtág, Magnus Lindberg, Georges Aphergis or Fabián Panisello. He has been a regular guest conductor with leading symphony orchestras of Hungary and directed critically acclaimed performances with renowned soloists, such as Dezső Ránki, Fülöp Ránki, Kristóf Baráti, Barnabás Kelemen or Andrea Rost.

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In the season of 2022-23 he will appear again as guest conductor with Hungary’s National Philharmonic Orchestra, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra and the Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra and will also direct Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at the Hungarian State Opera, Budapest. In early 2022 he conducted Ferenc Erkel’s opera Bánk Bán at the National Theatre of Győr and made a return visit to the Brandenburgische Staatsorchester in Frankfurt am Oder. His debut as musical director of the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra was Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle in the autumn 2021, and also led his orchestra at the Richard Strauss marathon, organized by the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Müpa, Budapest. His debut at the Hungarian State Opera was in April 2022 with Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

In his past few seasons, Martin Rajna’s calendar featured several noteworthy debut performances. His first appearances in Germany were with the Branden burgisches Staatsorchester in Frankfurt (Oder)and Potsdam, in the autumn of 2019.  Also in 2019 he directed the Raanana Symphonette orchestra in Jerusalem, as part of the grand finale of the Hungarian Cultural Season in Israel. Soon afterwards he conducted Hungary’s National Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time at the prestigious Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy, and then appeared with the Dohnányi Orchestra of Budafok in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall at Budapest’s Palace of the Arts (Müpa). His opera debut was Mozart’s DieEntführung aus dem Serail at the National Theatre of Győr.

Between 2017-19 he worked as assistant conductor with the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra, where he directed his first concert at the age of 23 as part of the season’s subscription series, presenting Bartók’s Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s 4th Symphony with Barnabás Kelemen as soloist. In 2018, Rajna won Hungary’s Junior Prima Award, becoming the youngest ever conductor to receive the award. As part of the prize, he was invited by Tamás Vásáry to direct a performance of Beethoven’s cantata DerGlorreiche Augenblick by the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir in early 2019.

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Born in 1995, Rajna trained as a pianist and composer at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and in 2015 went on to study conducting at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music where he completed his Master’s Degree in 2020. In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious National Higher University Scholarship, and attended conducting courses by Péter Eötvös, György Vashegyiand Zsolt Hamar.

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