Jenő Lisztes was born in Budapest and started playing the cymbal at the age of four, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, where he received training in Romani music from Jenő Soros and graduated as a performer and teacher of the cymbal. Since 2006, Jenő has been a member of the Roby Lakatos Ensemble. In addition, in 2007, she founded her own jazz trio called the Jeno Lisztes Cimbalom Project.

He plays regularly with internationally renowned symphony orchestras and has performed in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Bozar in Brussels, the KKL in Lucerne and the Royal Albert Hall (in 2018 at the BBC Proms as soloist). He participated in Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for Sherlock Holmes 2. Game of Shadows and was invited to the European Parliament for a short solo performance on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.

In 2023, he was invited by Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki and the New York Philharmonic to perform in three concerts at David Geffen Hall, as well as a recital at Lincoln Center in New York.