Zoltán Lantos received his degree in classical violin from the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Being drawn towards experimental and eastern music from early on, he traveled to India on a scholarship to study classical Indian music in 1985.

Returning to Budapest in 1994 he went on developing his own unique way of improvising on the violin, rediscovering his musical roots and blending them with his knowledge of Eastern music and his experiences in the field of contemporary European jazz. Since then he has been performing and recording with various musicians such as Márta Sebestyén, László Dés, Mihály Dresch, Gábor Juhász and Kornél Horváth from his native Hungary as well as Charlie Mariano, Dave Liebman, Ramesh Shotham, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Lars Danielsson, Dhafer Youssef, Markus Stockhausen, Achim Tang, Patrice Heral and others.

Aside his main project called "Mirrorworld" he also plays soloviolin performances using electronic devices to create multiple loops and special effects. The last few years he has been invited to several international jazz- and world music festivals with his own group and also as a guest artist of other projects.

Zoltán plays a 5 string violin and a custom-built 5+16 sympathetic string violin (Tarangini) created by Ricardo Margarit.

Zoltán Lantos' Mirrorworld Zoltán Lantos, violin
Mihály Borbély, soprano- and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, wooden flutes
Miklós Lukács, cymbalom
Kornél Horváth, percussion

The members of the Zoltán Lantos' Mirrorworld quartet are well known in the Hungarian and Europian contemporary jazz scene. They have been working with each other in various formations during the last few years. These different collaborations eventually resulted in forming the present Quartet in the middle of 1999.

It would be hard to put their music into any particular category, although the musical concept of similar projects is internationally recognized as World jazz. Even so, the music of "Mirrorworld" is strongly rooted in the traditions of their homeland. At the same time it has deep connections with other musical cultures as well: oriental music, Indian classical music, contemporary music and free jazz are equally important elements that form the building material of the compositions and the atmosphere of the improvisations.

The group - having taken the name from Zoltán Lantos' similarly titled album released in 1998 - had its debut in the 99' Leipzig Jazz Festival with great success. Ever since, the quartet is a regular visitor of Jazz- and World Music festivals across Europe, also performing with various guest artists. Their first album titled "Tiptoe Ceremony" was released by BMC in 2002.

DISCOGRAPHY:
"Pieces" (1996)
"Eclipse" (Solo / 1997)
"Mirrorworld" (Fonó Records 1998)
"Makahia" (November Music 2000)
"Tiptoe Ceremony" (BMC 2002)