Zsolt Nagy was born in Gyula, Hungary, in 1957. He began his musical career as a coach and conductor at the City Theatre of Békécsaba (1976–79). At the age of 23 he took up conducting studies with István Párkai at the Academy of Music in Budapest (diploma in 1984). He was twice awarded a Soros Foundation Scholarship for studies in Milan and Paris (1988, 1989). He participated in the seminars given by Péter Eötvös during the Bartók Festivals (1985–89) and subsequently worked as Eötvös’s assistant in the Institute of New Music at the Karlsruhe Academy of Music (1990–95). In 1995–97 he served as Music Director of the Institute of Music Theatre. He was a guest lecturer in Stuttgart (1995), Cologne (1997) and Edenkoben (1998). Since 1999 he has held the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Israel Contemporary Players. In 2002 he was appointed a professor of conducting at the Paris Conservatory. He was Artistic Director of the masterclasses for conductors organized by the Janaček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava and of the Masterclass for Young Conductors for New Music (held at the Music Centre in Jerusalem).
Zsolt Nagy has worked with many orchestras and ensembles including the rai orchestras in Milan and Turin, the Jerusalem so, the bbc so, bbc Singers, the National Hungarian so, the rias Orchestra of Berlin, the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Radio Orches-tra in Hilversum, the Finnish Radio so, the Radio Orchestras in Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Cologne, Nederland Ballet Orkest, Ensemble Itinéraire in Paris, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Inter-Contemporain, Ensemble Contrechamps in Geneva, Ensemble Varianti in Stuttgart, Klangforum Wien, Musikfabrik nrw, Israel Contemporary Players, Opera Vest, umze in Budapest, Collegium Novum of Zurich and Ictus in Brussels.
He has over 500 first performances to his credit, as well as numerous radio recordings and cds. He received a special award for the promotion of new Israeli music.