Péter Tornyai was born in 1987 in Szeged, Hungary. As composer he studied in his native city with Lajos Huszár and then in Budapest with István Fekete Győr. He graduated in 2012 as student of Zoltán Jeney at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest where he also studied violin with István Kertész. His most important chamber music teachers were Balázs Arnóth, Gábor Csalog, János Rolla and Rita Wagner. In 2012-13 he studied with Matteo D’Amico at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, Italy. In 2013 he started his doctoral (DLA) program at Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. He is teaching composition and contemporary music at the Liszt Academy since 2015.

As violinist and violist he often plays classical and contemporary music with chamber ensembles such as THReNSeMBle, Ludium Ensemble (specialized in Kurtág’s music), Rondo Quartet, Classicus Ensemble (Artist in Residence of Central European University), Qaartsiluni Ensemble.

Since 2013 he is the artistic director of the Anima Musicae Contemporary Music Workshop, founding member of CentriFUGA contemporary music corporation and Hermina Gallery – art and music group.

• 2017 – 1st prize at the orchesta category of New Hungarian Music Forum Composer Competition (UMZF)
• 2017 – Artisjus prize
• 2017 – 2nd prize at GENERACE Composer Competition Ostrava
• 2016 – Junior Prima prize
• 2016 – 1st prize at GENERACE Composer Competition Ostrava
• 2013 – 2nd prize at the chamber ensemble category of New Hungarian Music Forum Composer Competition (UMZF), and  the special prize of Péter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation.
• 2012 – 1st prize at the Wiener Konzerthaus’s composing competition  „Towards the Next 100 Years” (string ensemble-piece).
• 2011 – 1st prize and two special prizes at the chamber ensemble category of New Hungarian Music Forum Composer Competition (UMZF). He was commisioned to write the compulsory piece of the 1st International Végh Sándor String Quartet Competition.
• 2011 – Gerhardus-prize at St.Gellert Festival in Szeged for his string quartet (played by Stadler Quartett).
• 2010 – composer prize awarded by the members of Klangforum Wien in the ISA, Austria.
• 2008, 2009, 2010 – The previous years he won 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes at the Composition Competition of the Liszt Academy.
• 2008 – 1st prize of the Compositon Competition of the Fine Arts Museum, Budapest.

He was participant of the masterclasses and seminars of Gyula Csapó, Johannes Schöllhorn, Nigel Osborne, Krzysztof Penderecki, Larry Polansky, Louis Andriessen, Fabio Nieder, Marc André, Péter Eötvös, Luca Francesconi, Heinz Holliger and Kim Kashkashian. His pieces were performed by e.g. JACK Quartet, Stadler Quartet, Benyounes Quartet, Kelemen Quartet, UMZE, Hungarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Austria (in Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Vienna), Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Finland, USA and New Zealand.