Conductor, composer, director d'opera, thinker and educator, Iván Fischer is considered one of the most visionary musicians of our time. His goal is always music and, to that end, he has developed several new concert formats and reformed the structure and working method of the symphony orchestra. to mid-1980s he founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra and from then introduced and established numerous innovations. Fischer envisions an ensemble of musicians serving the community in various combinations and musical styles. His work as music director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra has turned into one of the greatest musical success stories of the past 30 years. With international tours and a series of recordings for Philips Classics and Channel Classics, he has earned a reputation as one of the world's most celebrated conductors, for whom tradition and innovation go hand in hand. He has founded numerous festivals, including the Budapest Mahlerfest, the "Bridging Europe" festival and the Vicenza Opera Festival. The World Economic Forum gave him the Crystal Award for his achievements in promoting international cultural relations. He has been principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, the Opéra National de Lyon and the Konzerthausorchester in Berlin, the latter of which named him Conductor Laureate. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra named him Honorary Guest Conductor after many decades of collaboration. He is a frequent guest conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Iván Fischer studied piano, violin and cello to Budapest before joining Hans Swarowsky's conducting class to Vienna. After spending two years as an assistant to Nikolaus Harnoncourt, he embarked on an international career as winner of the Rupert Foundation conducting competition to London. After several guest appearances in internationalopera theaters, he founded the Iván Fischer Opera Company. His stagings always aim at the fusion of music and theater. IFOC's productions, which often unite instrumentalists and singers in the space, have been received with great success in recent years to New York, Edinburgh, Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Geneva and Budapest. Fischer has been active as a composer since 2004. His opera The Red Heifer has attracted great interest to internationally; hisopera for children The Gruffalo has had numerous revivals to Berlin; his most frequently performed opera , Eine Deutsch-Jiddische Kantate, has been performed in several countries. Iván Fischer is an honorary citizen of Budapest, founder of the Hungarian Mahler Society and supporter of the British Kodály Academy. The President of the Republic of Hungary awarded him the Gold Medal and the French government honored him as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. In 2006 he was awarded the Hungarian Kossuth Prize, in 2011 the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awarde the Dutch Ovatie Prize, and in 2013 he was made an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Iván Fischer realized his dream when he founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983 together to Zoltán Kocsis. Thanks to its innovative approach to music and the unstinting dedication of its musicians, the BFO has become the youngest ensemble to enter the top ten symphony orchestras in the world. In addition to to Budapest, the orchestra regularly performs at some of the most important concert venues on the international music scene and is also featured on international streaming platforms. Since its inception, the BFO has been awarded from "Gramophone," the prestigious British music magazine, three times: in 1998 and 2007, the magazine's jury awarded the BFO the prize for the best recording, while in 2022, thanks to public votes, it was named Orchestra of the Year. The BFO's most important achievements are related to Mahler: the recording of Symphony No. 1 was nominated for a Grammy Award. In addition to its recording successes and acclaimed tours, the BFO has also become known to internationally through a series of particularly original concerts. The Autism-friendly Cocoa Concerts, Surprise Concerts - also appreciated at the London Proms -, music marathons, youth-oriented Midnight Music performances, outdoor concerts to Budapest, free Community Weeks, and the Bridging Europe Festival, organized in cooperation with Müpa Budapest - are all unique events to their own way. Another unique feature of the Orchestra is that its members regularly sing during concerts. Each year the BFO, in cooperation with the Iván Fischer Opera Company, Müpa Budapest, the Vicenza Opera Festival and Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, stages an opera production. Performances have been invited to New York's Mostly Mozart Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie; in 2013, The Marriage of Figaro topped New York Magazine's ranking of the year's best classical music events. The Vicenza Opera Festival, founded from Iván Fischer, debuted in fall 2018 at the Teatro Olimpico.