Miklós Perényi was born in Budapest into a musical family. At the age of five he received his first cello lessons from Miklós Zsamboki, a former pupil of David Popper, and at the age of seven he was admitted to the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy Budapest where he studied with Professor Ede Banda. He made his debut in Budapest at the age of nine. He undertook further studies at the Accademia Santa Cecilia Roma with Professor Enrico Mainardi.

In 1962 he was a prize winner at the International Casals Competition held in Budapest. In 1965 and 1966 Pablo Casals invited him to join his master classes in Zermatt and Puerto Rico and this was followed by an invitation to perform at the Marlboro Festival in the next four consecutive years.

In 1974 he was appointed a teacher at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy Budapest, where he is now Professor of the cello department.

As an acknowledgement of his musical activites he was awarded the Kossuth Prize in 1980, and the Bartok-Pasztory Prize in 1987. As a soloist and a chamber musician he has appeared in many musical centres and festivals in Europe as well as in America, Japan and China. He has a very extensive repertoire, including pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries to the present day.