His formal musical education began in 1946 at the State Music Secondary School as a student of pianist
István Antal, organist
János Hammerschlag and composer
Ervin Major.[4] He continued his studies with organist
Ferenc Gergely and composer
Ferenc Szabó at the
Franz Liszt Academy of Music and graduated there with an organ diploma in 1955. He later attended the harpsichord class of
Zuzana Růžičková in Prague. His concert tours as organ and harpsichord soloist took him to Russia, India, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, the United States and nearly every country in Europe.
In 1970 he established the first harpsichord class at the
Franz Liszt Academy of Music. He was invited to serve on juries for organ and harpsichord competitions in France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy and Switzerland. In Hungary he served as president of the jury for the International Liszt Organ Competition in 1983, 1988 and 1993, and at the 1st International Harpsichord Competition, Budapest, in 2000. From 1950 on, he worked for
Hungarian Radio in various capacities, serving as senior music producer between 1969 and 1994, and from 1962 until 2007 he contributed a regular series of programs documenting culture, politics and history. During his last years he contributed a monthly program to Hungarian Catholic Radio.
Azok a rádiós évtizedek... / ...és azok a rádiós évek (Those Radio Decades... / ...Those Radio Years), co-authored with
Jenő Randé, Ajtósi Dürer Kiadó, Budapest, 1995;
ISBN963-8314-15-X[6]
Recordings
János Sebestyén's discography spans most of the keyboard repertoire, from works by
renaissance composer
Valentin Bakfark through those by contemporary composers including
Frank Martin and
Paul Hindemith. More than 80 LP and CD recordings have been published by various labels including Angelicum, Ariston,
Balkanton, BAM, Il Canale, CBS Italiana, Fonit Cetra,
Hungaroton,
Naxos,
Supraphon, and
Vox.[7]
Highlights:
Paul Hindemith: Organ Sonatas Nos. 1 and 3 – Angelicum LPA 5963