Zoltán Kovács composer, bassoonist and conductor began his musical studies at the age of seven. He first studied piano and later chose the bassoon as an orchestral instrument. He continued his studies in both subjects at the Bartók Béla Secondary School of Music and then at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. His composition teachers included Miklós Kocsár, Emil Petrovics, Sándor Balassa, József Soproni, János Vajda, Miklós Csemiczky. He received his degree in Composition in 1993. His graduation work was the Violin Concerto, which was performed by his future wife Ágnes Soltész and the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra conducted by János Kovács.

In 1991 he won the audition for the first bassoon position at the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. His active performing activity to this day has had a significant influence on his composing career. As a result of his frequent conducting assignments, between 2002 and 2009 he also completed a postgraduate course in Conducting at the Liszt Academy. As a conductor, he mainly conducts his own compositions and other contemporary works.

Since 2013, he has been a full member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, where he is active as a composer and conductor.

Awards, recognitions:

• 1991 Kincses József Scholarship
• 1992 Receives the Hungarian
  Radio Award for his first orchestral work; Accompaniment Music
• 1993 Kodály Scholarship
• 2007 ARTISJUS Performer Award
  for his conducting and playing bassoon activities
• 2008 Istvánffy Benedek Award
  for the best work written by Hungarian composers under the age of forty
• 2009 Erkel Award
• 2021 Bartók-Pásztory Award