JANOS NEGYESY was born in 1938 in Budapest where he studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and later at Detmold in Germany. Since leaving Hungary in 1965, and before settling into his position at the University of California at San Diego, Negyesy has performed in numerous countries of the world, while living in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and New York. He has appeared at many important music festivals, including the Holland Festival, the Berlin Festival, and other major festivals held in Royan, Metz, Teheran and Paris. From 1970 through 1974 he also served as concert master of the Radio Berlin Orchestra.It was in Paris that Negyesy came in contact with one of the primary sources in contemporary music--Pierre Boulez. In 1976, Negyesy was invited to Boulez's world famous institute, IRCAM, for a week of performances. In addition, their acquaintance resulted in a commission for Negyesy to write a teaching and reference book on violin techniques.Through his travels and experiences, Negyesy has come to the conclusion that the problems surrounding new music in the world have to do with a prevalent rigidity in the contemporary culture. According to him, in order to benefit from what new music has to offer, people must try and rid themselves of imprisoning categories they have been taught to accept as absolute. We must realize that the categories of good and bad, major and minor, happy and sad are arbitrary and artificial constructions which do not accurately represent the climate in modern life.In the field of recording, Negyesy already has to his credit these landmarks: the first European recording of the complete Violin and Piano Sonatas of Charles Ives with Cornelius Cardew, and a recording of works specifically dedicated to him by important contemporary composers such as Attila Bozay, Isang Yun, Vinko Globokar, Robert Wittinger, and Carlos Farinas. Both recordings are on the Thorofon label. Negyesy's latest recordings are of the Bach D minor Partita and the Bartok Sonata for Solo Violin and Violostries for Violin and Tape by Paremegiani.