Csanád Palkó
Csanád Palkó, a saxophonist from Romania, has distinguished himself through an atypical path combining engineering and high-level musical studies. Trained notably in Debrecen and at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, he is developing an international career through concerts, competitions, and masterclasses. A prizewinner and invited to major events such as Andorra SaxFest and the World Saxophone Congress, he actively contributes to the promotion of classical saxophone. At the same time, he pursues a career as both a teacher and a researcher, focusing on the repertoire and transcriptions for saxophone.
Csanád Palkó was born in 1995 in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania. He grew up in the small Transylvanian town of Cristuru Secuiesc, where he also began his musical studies. At the age of eight, he started learning the violin, then continued with traditional music studies on the cimbalom and double bass. At fourteen, he began playing the saxophone.
He completed his secondary education in a scientific track, and between 2014 and 2018, he obtained a degree in civil engineering from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. However, his interest in the saxophone never diminished during this period, and from 2014, he took private lessons with the clarinetist and saxophonist Zoltán Réman.
After obtaining his civil engineering degree, he began institutional music studies in 2018 and was successfully admitted to the classical saxophone program at the Faculty of Music of the University of Debrecen, where he studied under the guidance of Levente Puskás. In 2021, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in musical performance with distinction. He completed his Master’s degree in 2023 at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, specializing in classical saxophone, under the supervision of Zoltán Réman.
In 2020, he was awarded the Hungarian National Higher Education Scholarship, and in 2022, he won the third prize at the International Saxophone Competition held in Iași. In April 2024, he became the first participant from Romania to take part in one of the largest international saxophone competitions in the world, Andorra SaxFest. In the summer of 2025, as the first Romanian participant, he performed at the 20th World Saxophone Congress in Harbin, China, where he promoted solo saxophone works by composers from Cluj-Napoca.
Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to work with and participate in masterclasses with renowned saxophonists such as Claude Delangle (France), Joshua Hyde (Australia), Christian Wirth (France), Arno Bornkamp (Netherlands), Nobuya Sugawa (Japan), Ryo Noda (Japan), Hans de Jong (Belgium), Lev Pupis (Slovenia), and Rodrigo Vila (Spain).
Throughout his career, he has given solo recitals in several cities of the Carpathian Basin, including Budapest, Debrecen, Győr, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Brașov, Satu Mare, Sfântu Gheorghe, Sighișoara, Odorheiu Secuiesc, and Carei.
In addition to his recitals, he has also performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras and participated in various contemporary chamber music ensembles.
One of the most important goals of his career is to promote the saxophone as a classical music instrument.
For this reason, alongside his career as a performer, he places great importance on teaching.
He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, where he also serves as a teaching assistant, and he teaches saxophone at the Sigismund Toduță Music High School in Cluj-Napoca.
The topic of his doctoral research is: The development of transcriptions for saxophone and saxophone ensemble, based on the acoustic properties and playing techniques of the saxophone.
