Francis Akos, esteemed former Assistant Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 48 seasons and conductor of the Highland Park Strings for 28 seasons, joined the Chicago Symphony in 1955 as principal second violin under Fritz Reiner and was appointed Assistant Concertmaster in 1959. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Mr. Akos received his artist's and teacher's diplomas at the Lizst Academy of Music where his teachers included Leo Weiner, Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok. Mr. Akos' early professional engagements were as concertmaster of the Budapest Symphony and the Budapest Royal Opera and Philharmonic, making him the youngest person in their history to hold these posts. In 1954 Mr. Akos emigrated to the United States and served as assistant concertmaster at the Aspen Festival under the direction of William Steinbert and principal second violin of the Minneapolis Symphony before joining the CSO. He has served as leader of the Old Town Chamber Music Series, founder and conductor of the The Chicago Strings, conductor of the Fox River Valley Symphony, and conductor of the Chicago Heights Symphony. In 2004, Mr. Akos retired from the CSO at the conclusion of his 48th season. During his long tenure he appeared as soloist with Daniel Barenboim, Sir George Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Fritz Reiner, and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.
