Tzumo Arpad Olah
Tzumo Arpad Olah was born on 29th January, 1980 into a musical family in Budapest, Hungary. When he was a child, his got the nick name “Tzumo”. After he got it, everyone called him Tzumo.
Tzumo Arpad Olah or just Tzumo started playing the piano at the age of seven. He studied classical music at the Weiner Leo Conservatory (Budapest, Hungary), after he received a scholarship to the Ferenc Erkel School of Jazz Music.
His first success was the first prize of the Hungarian (Bela Bartok) Radio’s talent competition in 1998, and he won a scholarship for 5-week summer course at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Since 2001, he has had a lot of success in the international field, as well. In the summer of 2001, Tzumo received the first prize for the best Trio and for being the best soloist at the „Jazz an der Donau” competition.
In September 2001, his Trio took part in the Jazz Hoeilaart International Contest competition, where for the first time in the competition’s history Tzumo won all three of the main prizes: for the best Trio, and for the most creative performance piece, and he also received the prize for best soloist.
In 2001 he also received scholarship and continued his studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied with Joanne Brackeen and Hal Crook.
In 2003 he applied and got accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. He has performed with Monk Institute Band, featuring Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Kenny Garrett, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Clark Terry, Hal Crook, Terri Lyne Carrington in the United States, Europe and Japan.
In 2002, he was also granted the Emerton Award and the prize for the year’s Young Jazz Talents from the Hungarian Radio. In 2003 he was selected among the 50 most successful Hungarian young talented artists. His first record “My Time”, received Hungary’s musical award, the Gramophone. He graduated from the Monk Institute of Jazz University of Southern California in 2006.
After the graduation he moved to New York where he has been started to work with young generations of jazz musicians like Ferenc Nemeth, Lionel Loueke, Arturo Stable.
Today, you can find Tzumo living in Europe. In 2011 joined as a Part time Teacher at The Snetberger Center which name came from guitarist and composer Ferenc Snétberger, who is a Hungarian Roma from Berlin. Our students will get support in building on this knowledge, and broadening their talents in the direction of jazz, classical and world music.
In 2016 I released a Solo Album “Hungarian Folk Songs“. Tzumo recorded 10 beautiful folk melodies from Bartok and Kodaly. In 2017 “Promise” album was released, featuring 10 original compositions with International Guest Artists Melissa Aldana, Jure Pukl, Josh Ginsburg, Kyle Poole.
In 2018 joined Ferenc Nemeth Trio with Gregory Tardy on sax, Tzumo on piano and keyboards and Ferenc Nemeth on drums.
The Ferenc Nemeth Trio had a lot of tours mostly in Europe and recorded an album called “Freedom”. “Freedom” record won an Independent Award.
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