Lászlo Kovács studied at the Budapest Liszt Academy as a trombonist and as a conductor, making his début in the latter capacity at the Hungarian State Opera at the age of twenty-one. After serving as an assistant to conductors such as János Ferencsik, Lamberto Gardelli, Giuseppe Patane and Yuri Simonow, he built an international career and in 1984 be became general music director of the North Hungarian Symphony Orchestra (Miskolc). In 1989 he was awarded the Ferenc Liszt Prize and in 1993 the Bartók Prize and since 1979 has been on the teaching staff of the Liszt Academy.