István Kónya obtained his first diploma in History and Music in 1985, whilst broadening his training with studies in classical guitar. In 1989, he joined the lute studio of Toyohiko Satoh at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. There, he gained his lute diploma in 1994, being the first Hungarian lutist to graduate. In addition to renaissance and baroque lutes, he plays the archlute and the chitarrone. Obtaining his chamber music degree in 1996, he attended master classes with Nigel North and Steven Stubbs. Since 1993 he gave many music courses in Hungary. Lute teacher and artistic director of the Early Music Summer Academy in Szombathely (1996-1998), of the Savaria Early Music Course (2005-2013), of the International Lute & Guitar Festival in Hungary (2006-2008). Since 2010, he is the lute and guitar teacher of the Early Music Summer University in Miercurea-Ciuc (Romania). His activities as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician have taken him all over Europe. He is a member of more chamber music groups, like Ensemble Responsorium in Zagreb (2006-), Ábrahám Consort in Budapest (2014-), and founding member of the  Ensemble Sospiri (2015-) in Budapest. His solos CD’s are:  “Lute Music from Three Centuries” and “S.L.Weiss: Lute Suites”. In 2014 he published 3 books: History of the lute in Europe; Method and Anthology for Renaissance Lute (in Hungarian). See more info: www.lant.hu.