Istvan Kertesz (1929-1973) was born into a Hungarian-Jewish, and he grew up taking violin lessons at a time “when terrible things were happening in Europe.” By the time Istvan was twelve, he had been mastering the piano as well. But Hungarian Jews were persecuted relentlessly, and many of his extended family members were sent to Auschwitz to be murdered. After the war, he resumed his studies in what is now the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, taking composition lessons with Kodaly and Leo Weiner. An interest in conducting led to studies with Laszlo Samogyi and Janos Ferencsik. Kertesz openly admired Bruno Walter as well as Otto Klemperer, the latter fo whom had led the Budapest Opera. Kertesz married soprano Edith Gabry, with whom he had three children, Gabor, Peter, and Katarin. Between 1953 to 1957, Kertesz conducted in Gyor, moving from 1955 to 1957 to the Budapest Opera.