The Hungarian tenor István Kovácsházi started his career as a lyric tenor at the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen, Hungary. Following an engagement at the operetta theatre in Budapest, he joined the Hungarian State Opera in 1997. There he has sung a broad repertoire, ranging from Tamino to Rodolfo (La Bohème) to Cavaradossi. Today, István Kovácsházi is still a regular guest at the Budapest State Opera.

Highlights for this season in Budapest include: Parsifal, Siegfried, Die Walküre, Die Fledermaus and Love and Other Demons.

Since 2009, István has been a member of the ensemble of the National Theatre Mannheim where he gave his highly acclaimed début as a dramatic tenor, singing Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Since then he has sung Parsifal, Bacchus, Loge, Samson and Don José in Mannheim and, in 2011, made his début in the title roles of Lohengrin and Les contes d'Hoffmann. In the 2013/14 season, he added the role of Max in Der Freischütz to his repertoire in Mannheim. In 2011 István Kovácsházi made his successful début as Don José at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki.

In March 2008 István Kovácsházi was awarded the Liszt Prize by the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Arts.