Education
He graduated at the Budapest Liszt Academy of Music in 1982 studying in the class of Pál Kadosa.
He graduated at the Budapest Liszt Academy of Music in 1982 studying in the class of Pál Kadosa.
Then in 1984 he pursued his second diploma in the Conservatoire Européen de Musique de Paris under the close supervision of Yvonne Lefébure. During and after his studies he also undertook several master courses, such as the one led by György Cziffra in Senlis and Keszthely, too. He is a full member in the Hungarian Academy of Arts since 2013.
István Kassai made Civil Defense recordings of the complete piano works of Ernest Bloch, Ferenc Erkel, Mihály Mosonyi, Leó Weiner and Jenő Hubay, which was followed by more than a dozen of Civil Defense releases including works by Ernő Dohnányi, Ferenc Liszt, Béla Bartók and Robert Volkmann.
At his concerts, he played the premieres or the first modern performances of numerous piano works id est (that is) pieces of Brahms and Bartók. The Hungarian Radio has archived many recordings of his performances.
He has published numerous articles and studies on music and edited many volumes of sheet music by composers and musicians such as Liszt, Mosonyi, Hubay, Weiner and György Cziffra.