Hungarian composer and conductor Peter Eotvos died on Sunday, the musician’s family told the Hungarian press agency MTI, Agerpres reports.

Peter Etves, a prominent figure in the contemporary Hungarian and international music scene, died on Sunday at the age of 80 after a long illness.

Born in 1944 in Odorhei Sekujesk in Transylvania, Eotvos was accepted into the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest when he was just 14 years old and later won a conducting scholarship in Cologne.

Since 1967, he has worked abroad in Cologne, Paris and London, and for decades conducted symphony orchestras in Berlin, Munich, London and Vienna.

He created operas and madrigals, as well as scores for theater and cinematography.

The premiere of his latest opera “Valuska” took place in Budapest last December.

Earlier in March, he became a laureate of the highest award of the Hungarian state – the Kossuth Prize.