Szabolcs Zempléni, born in 1981, was awarded the first Prize and the Special Prize at the Concertino Praga Competition at the youthful age of 17. This success was followed by first place at the International Horn Competition in Békés. Hungary, and second place at the International Horn Competition in Markneukirchen,
Germany, in 2000, and first place at the International Horn Competition in Brno, Czech Republic, in 2001. Szabolcs Zempléni was awarded the first prize at the ARD International Music Competition Munich in 2005.
Since then he has performed as a soloist in countries such as the Czech Republic, Japan, China, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States, with conductors Ivan Fischer, Yakov Kreizberg, Jonathan Nott, Daniel Raiskin and Michael Sanderling. He has already debuted in some of the greatest concert halls, such as the Auditorium in Rome, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Philharmonic at the Gasteig, Munich and in the Bartók Hall in Budapest. He has also performed with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphonic Orchestra and the Württemberg Philharmonic in Reutlingen. His chamber music partners include András Keller, Péter Nagy, Dénes Várjon, Christoph Eschenbach, Elena Bashkirova, Christian Zacharias, Mie Matsuoka and Frank Peter Zimmermann.
Szabolcs Zempléni is a visiting professor at the Trinity Music College in London and at the Tokyo Music College in Japan. Since 2010 he is professor at Trossingen University of Music (Germany). In 2018 he accepted a post at the Hamburg University of Music and Dance as Professor of Horn. His first CD (Colors of the French Horn) was released in 2011.