About PMI
About us
Led by married couple, Mónika Markovich & Dániel Bolgár, Premier Music Institute is an award-winning (Prestige Awards 2020 - British awarding body) independent international boutique music school offering quality music education in Budapest since 2016.
At PMI we are committed to student-centred education, encouraging creativity, critical thinking and effective, yet fun music practising.
The student can decide which style(s) of music to pursue, whether to enrol in a music exam, or to study additional music theory - the basics of music theory/solfege are taught through the chosen instrument.
If the student is uncertain which course is right for him/her then it is also possible to change instruments at the following semester.
2026/27 Team:
Harp
Monika received her Master of Music degree with outstanding distinction from the Liszt Academy of Music Budapest in 2010. She has also studied the harp in Vienna, and by winning an Erasmus scholarship, in Brussels with Jana Bouskova.
She has taken part in many competitions (3rd prize winner at the National Harp Competition Hungary) and festivals in Europe.
Before embarking on her harp career, Monika played piano for many years with Gábor Farkas at the Liszt Acacemy and studied music theory/solfege with the legendary Erzsébet Hegyi-Legányné.
She has played at numerous international festivals and has studied with world famous musicians.
Mónika plays concerts mostly as chamber musician these days playing at top Budapest concert venues with Duo Modarp, Premier Players and Duo Lumina.
She has also recently (2022) recorded an album with the Concerto Budapest Orchestra and was asked to perform at their UK tour.
She has been also part of Premier Players chamber formation, their first record was recorded and released in 2019, the second in 2021 (voice & harp) and they have had numerous concerts to date.
This is the ensemble's latest album: https://open.spotify.com/
Besides teaching the harp and solfege to all ages and levels, Mónika is happy to teach piano to beginner and intermediate students.
She is a proud mother of one child.
Drums/Percussion
Dániel completed his music performance and teaching studies at the RCM London and the LFZE in Budapest in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
Besides these cities, Dániel took percussion/drum lessons in New Jersey, Vienna, Linz and Antwerp. He took part in many festivals and concerts throughout Europe as solo and chamber musician.
Some notable performances: Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall and National Gallery (London), and as drummer of a rock/blues band at the Sziget Festival (Budapest).
Dániel has been teaching for more than 15 years and his students have also achieved success: one of his students was accepted to Berklee College of Music in 2017 and another was accepted to the Music Academy in Zürich and the MdW (Uni for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna).
This past year (2025), his percussion student was also accepted to Vienna (MdW).
Besides teaching, Dániel enjoys composing when he has time - his percussion piece titled Alone was published in Holland in 2014. He has taught in all of the international British schools in Budapest before working full-time at PMI.
He has been performing as the other half of Duo Modarp and as founding member of Premier Players. They have recorded an album together in 2019 and have had several concerts (Dániel engineered the album). Dániel also performs as a one-man band with dragonBoat.
Dániel is also founding director and organiser of the international music competitions PMIC & PMIC Pro
In addition, during the past few years Dániel has expanded his career portfolio to include sound engineering (mastering) besides teaching and performing.
For more info: www.dbmastering.eu
Dániel is also a proud father of one child.
Voice
Clara has been with PMI since 2017 and is a Swedish lyric-dramatic soprano with a long list of successful performances across all opera houses in Sweden as well as a few theatres in Europe (Spain, Germany).
She studied at Kulturama Opera Studio and at the University College of Opera in Stockholm.
Clara has received a number of awards as a performer, for example from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
Besides the opera, Clara is frequently engaged in concerts - she has toured with Swedish and Danish orchestras in Spain, Denmark and Germany and has also taken part in forming a small Swedish chamber music ensemble.
She has also performed with and was member of Premier Players.
In addition to performing, Clara is teaching both classical and pop/contemporary singing from around the age of 10.
Option of lessons in English, French, Spanish, or Swedish.
She has played the violin in her childhood and plays the drums as a hobby.
Clara is a regular jury member of the PMIC competitions.
She is a proud mother of two children.
Piano
Olivia has been with PMI since late 2021. She started learning the piano at age 7 in Singapore and graduated as one of the pioneering batches there completing Kodaly Level 4, DipABRSM, and LRSM in the process.
Since then, she has lived in the UK, obtaining her Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours) and then Master of Music (Distinction) from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Her passion for piano extends beyond performing and collaborating, she finds much joy in sharing her knowledge with her students and watching them grow and discover everything musical.
Her journey with piano and music brought her many exciting opportunities and has led her to Hungary where she studied at the Liszt Music Academy (LFZE) at post-graduate level - chamber music and piano performance.
Violin
Elisa is a graduating violin student at the Academy of Music, University of
Zagreb. As part of the Erasmus student exchange program, she has been studying at the
Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest since September 2025.
She was born in 2007 in Thaichung (Taiwan). She began studying violin at the age of six,
and at the age of eight she won a special prize at the Taiwan National Music Students
Competition. In 2017, Elisa and her family moved to Vienna (Austria) and continued her
education in the class of Prof. Dora Schwarzberg, and in 2019 she moved to Zagreb and
attended violin lessons with Prof. Anđelko Krpan. Since 2025, she's in the class of Prof.
Kristof Barati and Haruka Nagao.
Elisa has won several valuable awards, including prizes at the Arthur Grumiaux, Vaclav
Huml, Rudolf Matz and Young Virtuosi competitions, and first prize at the Jeno Hubay
Competition in Budapest (2023). She is the recipient of the Rector's Award for the academic
year 2022/2023.
Elisa has so far performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as Nova Symphony
Wien, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra Taipei, Croatian Musical Youth String Orchestra,
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra.
In 2024, she became a resident of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall.
Elisa has been teaching as assistant to Dora Palac last year at PMI and is taking over from her from this study year (2026/27)!
Guitar
János has been with PMI from the start in 2016. He holds a music performing and teaching degree from the Music Institute of the University of Pécs where he studied classical guitar and pedagogy.
János then went on to study jazz guitar in Budapest.
He has many years of experience in teaching classical, rock and jazz guitar and has taught in quite a few local as well as international schools in and around Budapest.
Despite his rigorous teaching schedule he enjoys writing and composing music.
In 2019, with his colleague he has published a collection of pieces for guitar including their own guitar compositions.
He regularly writes songs and records albums.
János is a truly versatile musician and teacher, playing and teaching almost any genre from classical to rock music and in between.
He is a proud father of a child.
Flute
Orsolya earned her degree as a classical flute teacher and performer from the Béla Bartók Faculty of Music at the University of Miskolc. Since then, she has built an active career both as a performing artist and an educator.
As a performer, she has played in numerous chamber ensembles and orchestras. Her experience includes major international tours of The Nutcracker, The Tales of Hoffmann, and Swan Lake, conducted by renowned maestros such as Mikhail Pabuzin, Svetlana Popova, and Timur Gorkovenko. She spent three seasons performing in a septet formation across England, Scotland, and Ireland. Starting in 2015, she spent seven seasons as a founding member of the classical music trio aboard the Viking Star cruise ship. Additionally, she completed a season in Japan at Huis Ten Bosch, collaborating with various instrumental groups.
As an educator, she has been teaching flute and music theory (solfège) for over ten years. She continued teaching during her time living in Berlin, an international experience that significantly shaped her pedagogical approach. Having navigated challenging periods along her own artistic path, she experimented with various methods and techniques. This personal journey enables her to recognize the most suitable practice methods for each individual student.
Her teaching philosophy places a strong emphasis on methodology and the conscious structuring of practice routines, making instrument learning more efficient and successful in a shorter amount of time. She also focuses on physical preparation and tailors the repertoire to fit the unique interests and style of each student.
Her teaching philosophy places a strong emphasis on methodology and the conscious structuring of practice routines, making instrument learning more efficient and successful in a shorter amount of time. She also focuses on physical preparation and tailors the repertoire to fit the unique interests and style of each student.
Guitar
Tamás is a guitarist and music educator. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the Béla Bartók Faculty of Music at the University of Miskolc, followed by a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.
Throughout his teaching career spanning over a decade, Tamás has taught at various music schools in Hungary, gaining extensive experience with all age groups, from 7-year-old beginners to adult learners. His students have regularly achieved excellent results in Budapest and regional music school competitions. Additionally, he has organised and led chamber ensembles and improvisation workshops.
Alongside his classical teaching, he has collaborated with contemporary music formations; in addition to the classical guitar, he plays the bass guitar at a professional level. As a music producer, he is active in songwriting and recording. For the past four years, he has also worked as a software developer, which has further enriched his professional profile with a technical mindset and strong problem-solving skills.
In his pedagogical practice, he places the greatest emphasis on instrumental methodology. Through personalised practice techniques, he helps his students independently develop their skills, paying special attention to preventing physical strain, burnout, and the formation of bad habits.
