Tibor Kovac was born in Levice (Slovak Republic) in 1967. He received his first violin lessons from his father at the age of four. He studied in Bratislava, Prague and Vienna. He later continued his training with A. Staar and B. Kuschnir. At the same time he took master classes with Z. Bron and I. Oistrach. He has won international competitions (including M. Abbado, J. Joachim) and has been a member of the Vienna Philharmonic since 1992 (previous violinist since 1994).

Tibor Kovac has performed internationally as a soloist as well as chamber music. His stage partners included Camerata academica Salzburg, Orchester de la Suisse Romande, German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Slovak Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra from St. Petersburg (under the direction of Maestro Valery Gergiev), as well as pianists Lang Lang (NCPA Beijing) and Lambert Orkis (Washington DC),

and singers Thomas Hampson, Juan Diego Florez and Bobby McFerrin.

In 2016 he founded the ensemble “Philharmonic Five”. Tibor Kovac held international master classes in Italy and Japan, as well as philharmonic audition seminars in Salzburg. His complete recording of the 24 Capricci by N. Paganini (2005 GRAMOLA) is remarkable. Tibor Kovac plays an Antonio Stradivari, Cremona 1724 “ex Rawark” violin (on loan from the Austrian National Bank).