After four concerts in 2023, János Mátyás Stark, Gergely Devich and Fülöp Ránki are announcing a new series at the BMC, now under the name of Trio Haris. Their first concert will feature two special gems before the well-known closing piece. Haydn's Trio in E-flat Minor is special not only for its unusual tone and the quasi-amalgam form of its first movement: its second movement was originally called 'Jacob's Dream' by the composer, who jokingly composed the biblical ladder leading from earth to heaven into the heights of the violin part – for an amateur violinist who was notoriously at odds with such positions. Liszt's chamber music output is a small slice of his vast oeuvre as a composer, and these works are very rarely heard. Tristia is a late trio version of the piano work Obermann's Valley, which lacks the dramatic recitative and glowing final section of the original piano version; Liszt retained only the melancholic first movement, thus referring the piece into the realm of his purely contemplative late works. The evening concludes with Schubert's Trio in E-flat major, one of the evergreen jewels of the immense wealth of Austro-German chamber music. Further concerts in this series: 4 January 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) II. | Takemitsu, Schubert, Shostakovich22 March 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) III. | Haydn and Beethoven7 June 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) IV. | Schumann and Brahms

The Slovenian based duo Czajka & Puchacz released their first, predominantly acoustic album Bivališča in July 2020, and followed up with a retro-avant-pop single Entschuldigung of their alter duo Kiebitz & Uhu a year later. Since their second release, which explored experimental songwriting within a field of existentialism and abstraction of daily life, the pair has continued exploring ways to merge instant songwriting with the aesthetics of European school of free improvisation and the idiom of musique concrete present on Bivališča.   Bivališča by Czajka & Puchacz

Van átjárás a műfajok közt? Mit mondhat Mozartról egy jazz-zongorista? Mennyire szabad a zene, mennyire szabad a zenész és Ön, kedves közönség? Szabad a játék? Nem kell aggódni, jó móka lesz! Semmi komoly. Mozart és a jazz – ez nem új történet. Ha mást nem is, Jacques Loussier révén sokan ismerik azt, milyen a klasszikus zene és a jazz kreatív találkozása. Ezúttal Mozart utolsó zongoraversenye kerül fókuszba, két irányból közelítve. Egy jazzes jam sessionre is sor kerül majd a koncert után, amit minden érdeklődőnek meleg szívvel ajánlunk. Mozart utolsó zongoraversenye a romantikus korszak előfutáraként is értelmezhető. A halálának évében bemutatott zongoraverseny egyik különlegessége, hogy csak három tételből áll.

Van átjárás a műfajok közt? Mit mondhat Mozartról egy jazz-zongorista? Mennyire szabad a zene, mennyire szabad a zenész és Ön, kedves közönség? Szabad a játék? Nem kell aggódni, jó móka lesz! Semmi komoly. Mozart és a jazz – ez nem új történet. Ha mást nem is, Jacques Loussier révén sokan ismerik azt, milyen a klasszikus zene és a jazz kreatív találkozása. Ezúttal Mozart utolsó zongoraversenye kerül fókuszba, két irányból közelítve. Egy jazzes jam sessionre is sor kerül majd a koncert után, amit minden érdeklődőnek meleg szívvel ajánlunk. Mozart utolsó zongoraversenye a romantikus korszak előfutáraként is értelmezhető. A halálának évében bemutatott zongoraverseny egyik különlegessége, hogy csak három tételből áll.

The record Mingus does not start as if the eternal questions of mankind would be addressed in it; we seem to be listening in to a birthday house party. Then Joni Mitchell sings about somebody (who is three): God must be a Boogie man! Most of these poetic lyrics were written by Mitchell to tunes that Charles Mingus, a colossus of bandleader and bass player, 21 years older than her, composed. They started working on the album together when Mingus was battling a fatal illness (ALS). Mitchell had to experiment long with the ideal band to record it, ultimately hitting the jackpot with Jaco Pastorius on electric bass, alongside Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Peter Erskine who rounded up the summit of geniuses. Mingus was only published in the summer of 1971, after Mingus’s death. It became one of the worthiest tributes in the history of jazz, producing instant classics such as the Dry Cleaner from Des Moines.

After having played in many free, pop and especially world music formations, Gergő Kováts felt that the time had come to explore the endless fields between folk music and jazz with his fellow musicians. The aim of the team, which has been assembled for this scientific-fantastic expedition, is nothing less than to gradually replace its material, starting from the world of jazz and retaining its achievements, with elements of Carpathian Basin folk music culture. Máté Pozsár and Attila Gyárfás are acknowledged jazz authorities, ubiquitous and inescapable figures of its free scene, and teachers at the Liszt Academy Budapest. Ábel Dénes, despite his young age, has a well-established international reputation as a bilingual musician, having achieved major international successes with the Nagy Emma Quintet and Söndörgő, among others. They recorded their first studio album for BMC Records towards the end of the summer, and they will further ponder these musical ideas.   Kovász · Live at Fonó, Budapest

Dear Guests, Mihály Borbély and Michael Jefry Stevens cannot perform this evening due to force majeure. Joe Fonda and Balázs Bágyi will give a joint concert with Sándor Soso Lakatos and Uwe Oberg, remaining faithful to the original sound world and musical concept of Eastern Boundary Quartet. If you wish to refund your ticket due to the change of lineup, please contact our colleagues at info@bmc.hu. Thank you for your understanding:BMC – Opus Jazz Club The Eastern Boundary Quartet is a collaborative quartet featuring Hungarian master musicians, drummer Balázs Bágyi and wind player Mihály Borbély, and the long-standing bass/piano partnership of New York City bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens. Since 2007 the quartet has toured Europe and the United States numerous times, and has released four CDs. The group uses Hungarian folk rhythms and melodies in combination with jazz harmonies and rhythms to form an original, “hybrid” improvised music. They performs original music by all members of the group. The band was formed with the aim of connecting two worlds of the jazz scene today. This unique collaboration is a mixture of avant-garde jazz and ethno-music from Hungary, forming a cultural bridge between the USA and Eastern Europe. This bridge is made of talent, respect, brotherhood and friendship, built by the common language of jazz and improvised music.

Springing off a sound reminiscent of acoustic piano trios of the 50s and 60s, Oùat explores the memory and perspectives of hand crafted, collective, music making. Jazz in its most open operative meaning, in which improvisation is a real necessity, stimulates the trio to confront and investigate our times of sounds and movements. Oùat's music is transmitted through consistent listening and risk taking. An inviting work that gesticulates the most obvious as well as surprising in coming together. Being one of many groups made possible due to the venue Au Topsi Pohl (2019-2022) in Berlin, Oùat started off with performing the music of Ellington, Hasaan Ibn Ali, Elmo Hope, Per Henrik Wallin and Sun Ra. Their debut album Elastic Bricks (Umlaut, 2022) is exclusively dedicated to their own material and might evoke a dreamed-up vacation of Hindemith in Alger; sounds and tempos in a curious mixture of recognizable disorder and unrecognizable order. For their second release, The Strange Adventures of Jesper Klint (Umlaut, 2023) Oùat reiterates the trio music of Swedish pianist Per Henrik Wallin which is an escalating and beautiful venture of limits and questioning. Oùat continues to praise the sound and momentum of collective concentrated creativity, making as much as possible out of an idea, a shared place and time. This is most certainly heard in the digital release Trial of Future Animals (2023); an advent calendar overwhelming Christmas itself in twenty-four long and very different song releases. The trio likes to invite guests and expand on uncommon forms. Oùat (Once upon a time) can be heard as storytelling, a chatty trilogy instantaneously finding the sonorous meanings of what, where and when. How this is possible is another question. Simply: listen – it's a good beginning, and end! Oùat's members play momentous roles in the creative music scenes of Europe, from Marseille to Dala-Floda via Berlin. Their individual work is heard in groups such as Monks Casino, [ahmed], and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.   Trial of Future Animals by Oùat

Zeneszerzők kerek évfordulóját szerzői esttel szokás ünnepelni. Ezen a rendhagyó, „beszélgetős” koncerten viszont az ünnepelt 70 éves Soós András mellett egy fiatalabb komponista, Dinyés Dániel művei is szerepelnek, így két generáció zenei és szóbeli párbeszédén keresztül ismerhetjük meg a zeneszerzők egymást ellenpontozó vagy egymásra reflektáló műveit és gondolatait.

Poets, especially sonic poetry, often treat words as music; Samuel Beckett regarded every word as an insult to silence, and ChatGPT churns 12 pages of them in a matter of moments. The flow and stream of words is a highly (im)personal treat of creative beings and one of the most music-like aspects of any language. Compositions in our concert take the cue from György Kurtág’s seminal composition to chart a sensual and intellectual journey from the silence of the abyss, through the birth of words to mechanic blabbering from historic sound-producing automatons. The MIKAMO Central European Chamber Orchestra was founded by critically acclaimed Viennese University of Music and Performing Arts graduates in 2007. The ensemble considers concerts Gesamtkunstwerk and regards historic music repertory as the extrapolation of new works from our time. While dedicated to living composers and the repertory of current music, MIKAMO also promotes artistic continuity in defining a Central European musical heritage by regularly performing in defining concert halls of Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Central Europe in general. The concert is organized by the Sonus Foundation for the Support of New Music and Contemporary Performing Arts, with support from the National Cooperation Fund and the National Cultural Fund.

New Fossils emerges as a fresh force in Budapest's dynamic jazz landscape, blending youthful energy with seasoned expertise. Anchored by drummer Dániel Ferenc Szabó and bassist Marcell Gyányi, the band represents a convergence of top-tier talent from diverse musical backgrounds. Their journey to prominence includes opening for Alfa Mist, winning Best Alternative Album of the Year for their debut album recognized by local media, and collaborating with Norwegian ECM artist Mathias Eick. These milestones underscore their commitment to pushing boundaries and forging new sonic frontiers, solidifying their status as trailblazers in the local jazz community. In keeping with their grassroots approach, New Fossils proudly embodies a DIY attitude, exemplified by the establishment of their own label, Morotva Records. This commitment to independence underscores their humility and determination to carve out a unique path in the global jazz scene.  

Instrumental performers can play chamber music together in many different formations, but what about composers? Can the "bicycle" of musical fantasy be ridden by two or more people? Usually, we find composers writing works of their own inspiration in a unique musical language, but musical literature also offers a more hidden but exciting area where composers have responded to each other or composed together. With this colourful bouquet of unique pieces, Egri & Pertis Piano Duo celebrates the 5th anniversary of the launch of the "Crosstalks" concert series, which showcases the interaction of related arts. The "chamber music" of the composers is represented, among others, by the joint compositions of Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Rachmaninoff and Fauré, while the indirect collaboration is represented by Grieg, Poldini and their colleagues, who composed a second piano solo for the evergreens of Bach, Mozart or Johann Strauss. The artistic guest of the evening, Máté Hollós, Bartók-Pásztory and Erkel Prize winning composer and honorary president of the Hungarian Composers' Association, will talk about how a composer can tap into the world of another composer's ideas or sounds, or "collaborate" with his colleague in any way. The host of the "Crosstalks" continues to be the popular editor and moderator of Bartók Radio, Szilvia Becze. The series is sponsored by OTP Bank. The photo of the Egri-Pertis Duo was taken by Zsófia Raffay and the photo of Máté Hollós was taken by Edit Ternyák.

Saxophonist and composer Maria Faust is renowned and respected worldwide for her award-winning ensembles Sacrum Facere, Machina, and Jazz Catastrophe. Although her unique musical language as a composer and singular improvising style are easily identified, she is difficult to place in the canon of contemporary jazz and composition. This is partly due to the broad spectrum of her influences and also because her music goes beyond stylistic definitions and into the realm of the deeply personal. Today Maria Faust is one of the most celebrated and established Estonian musicians of all time, recipient of numerous awards and prizes from Estonia and Denmark (where she resides), but also a celebrated artist all over Europe and slowly but surely catching the attention of American audiences. Maria Faust's Jazz Catastrophe was originally founded in Copenhagen in 2012 as a modern big band. The present album documents its third mutation. Concentrated and reduced down to its essence like a thick syrup, the new music is performed by a trio where Faust's alto saxophone is flanked by long-time associates Lars Pilgaard on guitar and Anders Vestergaard on drums. Moth is Faust's 15th album and as the name suggests, it is inspired by the life of those mysterious nocturnal creatures – moths. Their being attracted to light is called positive phototaxis and although there is much speculation as to why, the reason is still unknown. The potentially fatal lure of artificial light that seemingly changes the will of the moth, is a central theme of the album. It is a bittersweet realization of the similarities to human behavior. We can all hear the warning sounds of “hells bells” when something is about to go wrong, but we choose go straight towards the flame anyway. This is part of the human experience but it's important to say that these compositions are not about death and demise. Moth is primarily an album for star-crossed lovers. In euphoria they see only the light. In here lies the beauty of the metaphor and the reality is that this is music that is so stripped down, real and beautiful that it can hurt you, but you won't be able to turn away.  

Intergeese was founded by three young musicians in February 2023. The members all come from different musical backgrounds but have in common that they are active participants in the emerging music scene. The trio line-up gives them the necessary freedom, but also an important assignment in making music together. Their musical inspiration comes from a complex source: they are influenced by the great masters of post-bop and avant-garde jazz, contemporary jazz musicians, late 20th century pop and hip-hop artists, as well as authentic Hungarian folk music. Using all of these, they strive to create unique sounds that are unusual on their instruments, mixing genres and pushing boundaries. In their concerts they play their own compositions, searching for new musical paths on the borderland of written and improvised music. They were awarded at the Müpa Jazz Showcase 2024. For this evening, they invited Dominik Kosztolánszki, aka Dom Beats, a young representative of the Hungarian underground and jazz scene, as their guest.

Sokkal Másabb (Much More Different) started out as a duo, and in the last two years it has expanded and to become complete as a quartet. The band's unusual line-up – two wind instruments, bass and drums – is perhaps partly a fortunate coincidence, but the energy they transmit through their instruments is not: it is entirely the result of the musicians' personalities and the songs they play. At their concerts, the band performs their own compositions, which not only allow for improvisation, but also for ecstatic moods that are not at all alien to the jazz genre. They have recently performed with many of the best jazz musicians in Hungary, and have also appeared in the national clubs. In the near future, they plan to release an album, as well as to showcase their sound and playing style at as many festivals as possible, both at home and abroad, also including at events not focused on jazz.

Otis Sandsjö – initiator and mastermind behind the band Y-Otis – settled in Berlin via Sweden and brings his own special genre-bending, forward-looking liquid jazz sounds. After his esteemed self-titled debut album in 2018, he came back in 2020 with Y-Otis 2, and in 2024 with Y-Otis Tre, also released by the respected We Jazz Records in Helsinki and produced by Koma Saxo's multi-talent Petter Eldh. Otis's sound is described as an “audio mosaic” fusing together a selection of micro moods, inspired as much by hip-hop and electronica as by jazz. The hypnotising saxophone riffs and fragmented jazz style manage to bring strong melodies and funk beats whilst remaining fluid.  

While it chiefly draws on Western classical music, the Markus Stockhausen Group also embraces avant-garde and jazz – generally speaking, the culture of improvisation. Released in April 2024, the band’s latest album, Celebration was enthusiastically received. ‘You get the feeling that there is something more than the best jazz record of its time. Markus’ trumpet and flugelhorn rise with a timbre and lyricism that is unparalleled today. Once again, a masterpiece,’ one review read. At BMC, the Markus Stockhausen Group will perform with jazz pianist Franz von Chossy. Wrote a reviewer of the style of the artist who is at home in a multitude of musical worlds and is also active as a composer: ‘A superb mix of musical genres ranging from modern classical music to jazz which at times surprises with a tiny note of Eastern European folklore’ – all of which promises an ideal partner for Stockhausen. This concert of the Liszt Fest is presented by Müpa Budapest as a joint event with the Budapest Music Center.

The programme of the renowned Hungarian chamber group features compositions that pay homage to musical traditions, forms and masters, at the same time offering a fresh and individual voice. Six different styles, approaches and compositional plans make the programme truly colourful. The ensemble performs Máté Balogh's transcription from the second chamber symphony of Arnold Schoenberg as a befitting finale, bringing the spiritual legacy of a key figure in modernism closer to today's audience.

This program, titled Echoes of War, is perhaps what represents PuraCorda the best (so far). Connected by the devastating effects of WWII, these three pieces hold a very special place in each of the quartet member’s hearts. The program begins with the origin of the quartet: Amsterdam, PuraCorda’s home base. Henriëtte Bosmans was a true Amsterdamer, from birth to death. Daughter of two musicians, she was a successful composer and concert pianist who toured all around Europe and performed with worldwide renowned orchestras such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Her compositions were not only premiered by successful musicians in the Netherlands, but also around the world, such as the Cincinnati and Boston Symphony Orchestras. She was a half Jewish, openly bisexual female composer – one can only imagine the struggles and persecution she suffered all through. During the German occupation her music was banned and so was she from performing, except for the secret Black Evening concerts held by Jewish musicians for Jewish audiences. One of the songs she wrote during that period became an anthem of liberation for the Dutch. Elizabeth Maconchy was another bold, Irish-English female composer. Considered to be one of the finest composers from the British Isles, she was not only very successful during her lifetime but also held high positions in important associations. She was a political activist and helped many Jewish musicians escape the impending horrors of WWII. Her 13 string quartets are considered to be the peak of her work which fits her own statements; she considered the best music to be an impassioned argument, and the string quartet to represent a dialect between four balanced, individual voices – therefore, the perfect means of such an argument. The discovery of her third string quartet was a shot from Cupid straight to the hearts of PuraCorda; since then they have vigorously researched and played unknown composers, with a special focus on women. These two pieces have a healthy amount of light, bliss, and will to live in spite of all the hardships these two composers had to live through. Unfortunately, regardless of both composer’s indisputable greatness, they shared the same fate: their names rarely ring a bell (even between well-versed musicians). We end with Dmitri Shostakovich, who needs no introduction. This string quartet (out of his 15) is one of his personal favorites and considered to be one of the best by critics – it’s also one of PuraCorda's favorites. Originally Shostakovich baptised each movement, but he removed the titles immediately after the premiere. They are as follows:1. Calm unawareness of the future cataclysm2. Rumblings of unrest and anticipation3. The forces of war unleashed4. Homage to the dead5. The eternal question: why and for what?Written right after the war, this quartet speaks from the heart and about the hardships lived in the Soviet Union. This piece transcends people, countries and motives; it transcends space and time, ending with a beautiful and heartbreaking thought, shared by many all over the world. The centre of the MERITA project is the 38 quartets, selected from 61 applications received from 27 different countries. These early-career musicians represent a new generation of string quartets, and through MERITA, they will break new ground in European classical music. MERITA, coordinated by Le Dimore del Quartetto, brings together 17 leading musical and cultural organizations from 12 European countries. Each offers a unique perspective on and approach to classical music in the modern world, linked by their commitment to supporting new musicians while keeping alive music’s precious heritage. By connecting emerging talent with experts in performance with impact, MERITA aims to forge a vital and sustainable future for European classical music.

Among the pillars of StEFREM's broad repertoire are works for male choir by Hungarian composers, primarily Liszt, Bartók and Kodály, as well as compositions dedicated to the ensemble by contemporary Hungarian masters. They have released several albums of these works on BMC Records. The series A Genius Is Born is a tribute to the male choir works by the three greatest Hungarian masters of music, so it is no coincidence that the concerts are taking place on the composers' birthdays. A special feature of the concert programme is that StEFREM's personal selection of works by the classical composers is complemented by outstanding and interesting pieces by their "heirs", the Hungarian composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. StEFREM is a Budapest-based vocal ensemble with a unique sound. The multi award-winning ensemble regularly performs throughout Europe, from London to Bucharest, and has also performed in Africa, India and South America. They have worked with renowned artists such as Abeer Nehme, Victor Solomon, and the King's Singers, and have released 18 albums since 2002. Their rich and varied repertoire includes Byzantine and classical pieces, crossover arrangements and acapella pop songs. Master, do you intend to change beer drinkers into demigods with these works? - asked Liszt's Leipzig publisher with some sarcasm when he received the genius composer's choral cycle Twelve Male Choruses. "Never mind that, just publish them," replied Liszt, who composed many works for men's choir, and also symphonic and chamber works featuring men's choirs to the end of his life. His style had a strong influence on the young Bartók, and his legacy can be felt in contemporary works as well. StEFREM's programme presents these reflections and reworkings alongside the original compositions. Further concerts in this series: 16 December 2024 19:00 St.EFREM: A Genius is Born II. | Zoltán Kodály and his Musical Heritage25 March 2025 19:00 St.EFREM: A Genius is Born III. | Béla Bartók and his Musical Heritage  

Taking risks only works if you’re willing to fail, and Taupe share an understanding that there’s no wrong way to play. A decade of friendship has conjured a spooky telekinesis that anchors the band, even when their improvisations teeter on the edge of total collapse. The three-piece are an explosive live band, veering from taut metronomic precision into intentionally turbulent, unchartered territory. A DIY ethos feeds their wonky compositions, colliding sour scatter-skronk with sludgy, doom-inspired riffs. Anarchic, joyful debut album Fill Up Your Lungs and Bellow (2017) was best described by All About Jazz as “a chain of chemical reactions”, and their 2019 EP Get The Keys is a wild joyride through the night their car was almost stolen - with their instruments, Mike and Adam still inside it. Not Blue Light (released April 7th 2020) is their boldest record yet. Picking up the story from where the EP left off, it rattles from shit-your-pants fear to adrenaline, relief and total bafflement. It’s no surprise that their exhilarating sense of discovery has won them support from the likes of BBC 6 Music’s Freak Zone and BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and Freeness, as well as support slots with acts such as Deerhoof, Richard Dawson & Circle and Melt Banana. Fizzing with ideas, Taupe are a non-jazz band that prizes surprise over any specific sound.   Not Blue Light by taupe

Founded 40 years ago and led by composer and lyricist Zoltán Krulik, the legendary band Makám has been a key player in the Hungarian world music scene for decades. They started playing world music at a time when the term was just being born. They wrote modern music with knowledge of and respect for tradition, songs that are still known and sung by generations. Their work is also testified by two dozen albums; their 2019 release, Budapest Night Speaks, was a tribute to Endre Ady, whose poetry turned Zoltán Krulik's attention to new genres. In this unique concert, Makám will evoke the full 40 years of its history: in the first set, the band takes us back to its instrumental era, then, joined by Bori Magyar, immerses in their rich collection of vocal songs.

In the musical life at Bard College (New York), the work of György Kurtág plays a prominent role. For many years, the institution has regularly organised an annual festival to commemorate Kurtág's birthday, featuring some of the world's best-known soloists as well as the College's music students. Our concert is an extramural concert of this festival in Budapest, where festival director Benjamin Hochman plays with two Hungarian musicians – András Kemenes and Tamás Zétényi – who themselves regularly perform Kurtág's works.

The concert of the Szakcsi Jazz Association, founded on the initiative of the late Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, hosts a dialogue between generations, where experienced and young musicians present the richness of jazz together. They give insight into the traditions of Hungarian jazz and at the same time into its future. The 14 young talents selected by the Szakcsi Jazz Association collaborate with 10 well-known jazz artists, including 16-year-old saxophonist Máté Balogh, who will play with legendary jazz drummer Imre Kőszegi, 80 this year. The Szakcsi Jazz Association is led by artists who have taken Hungarian jazz to all corners of the world, such as Nikoletta Szőke, Elemér Balázs, Béla Zsoldos, Kálmán Oláh and Attila László. The president of the association is Béla Szakcsi Lakatos Jr. They have selected 14 exceptional talents to perform this evening.

“If we wanted an Austrian Billy Jenkins, who better than Christian Kühn and his Kuhn Fu combo.” (Jazzwise) Not only the band name is martial. In their “Jazz Rock Psychedelia”, the band Kuhn Fu of guitarist, composer and master of ceremonies, Christian Kühn, turns everything through the improvisational wolf. Zappa meets cabaret, surf sounds and metal riffs ride the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, while Shakespeare, Brecht and Monty Python are the godfathers. Since 2012, the band around German guitarist/composer Christian Kühn has developed a unique and very idiosyncratic form of jazz rock (or rock jazz), somewhere between parody and great seriousness, with which they allude to musical blinders. Kühn's international ensemble plays the melodies and compositional pieces with great panache. The comedy that is always present in Kuhn Fu's music does not take away from its intensity. Kuhn Fu has played over four hundred concerts in twenty three countries throughout Europe and the Middle East since its existence. They played numerous festivals and were nominated for the German Jazz Prize 2023 Best Composition. In 2023 they released their sixth studio album Katastrofik Kink Machine.  

Haydn életét végigkísérte a kvartett-komponálás, első és utolsó vonósnégyese között 48 év telt el, több, mint Schumann teljes élete. A romantikus mester pedig szinte összes kamarazenei művét egyetlen év alatt írta. Kurtág György művészete sok szállal kapcsolódik mindkét nagy elődhöz. A Dohnányi Quartet idei koncertsorozatában e három szerző vonósnégyesein keresztül nyújt bepillantást a műfaj mélységeibe, sokszínűségébe.

“Silence is an indispensable condition for the appearance of sound, to make the verb habitable. When language could not express the deepest human abysses, music emerged as a privileged way to bring us into contact with the mystical, with the transcendent element of reality. Thus the musical ritual was born, where word and melody meet to enter a space where spirits and gods are honoured, where the unknown and even the forbidden are invoked. The ritual is a sacred and protected ceremonial, a symbolic place where human beings congregate to access the unmanifested, that which likes to be hidden. Music is the heart of the ritual, the beat which gives life and lights up the rhythms of the ceremony. But if the ritual is the map, it is so because it also indicates the limits, everything which is beyond our understanding. The ritual is the door to the mysterious, and music is the vehicle leading us to this terra incognita. That is why music ends up surrendering to the empire of silence, and its journey concludes in it. Music is ritual because it is the only language which brings us back to the condition of all that is possible. Music is ritual because it is the only language telling us about the impossible.” – Carlos Javier González Serrano Hailed by The Strad as “an artist who risks” and described by Pizzicato Magazine as “a sensitive artist who knows how to immerse in the depths of music”, her passion for promoting the viola combined with her charismatic and expressive performances, and her beauty of sound, make Isabel Villanueva one of the most valued and complete violists of today. Since her debut at 18 performing Bartók Viola Concerto with the Radio Television Spanish Symphony Orchestra, she has developed an global career. She is regularly invited as a soloist with orchestras performing a wide range of repertoire including more than 30 viola concertos from baroque to contemporary music. Solo performances include important venues and festivals such as the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Royal Court Theatre in Copenhagen, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, and Wigmore Hall in London. She has been involved in collaborating and premiering more than 20 new works for viola, many of which are dedicated to her. 2023 saw the release of her second album, Ritual for viola solo. Comprising music over 1000 years from Hildegard von Bingen to György Kurtág, it has quickly got attention from media and was nominated to the prestigious ICMA Awards 2024 as “Best Instrumental Solo”. She presents this material in a concert that reveals the intersections of silence, sound and transcendence, and offers a unique opportunity to experience music as a sacred and transformative rite.  

The first sound document of Béla Ágoston's music-navigator journey was published 25 years ago. To mark this anniversary, he is reunited live with his fellow musicians who contributed to the album entitled Lakni, lakni. The history of the group began in Pécs, and their collaborations and shared musical experiences in different groups through many years created the basis for the musical material that the group recorded in 1999 under the title Lakni, lakni. The development of Béla Ágoston's musical career can be followed in Opus ever since, mainly through the performances of two current bands, Ágoston QRtet and the Kerub trio. This special concert will feature some of their earlier free jazz pieces alongside the material from Lakni, lakni.

The blending of Bossa Nova and jazz is a story going back to over half a century and opened up a whole new world way beyond the meeting of the pioneers, Carlos Antonio Jobim, Stan Getz and others. Since then many jazz recordings have been made in the Brazilian rhythm and sound, which is quite different from swing, for instance Soul Bossa by Quincy Jones, to name only a famous big band example. Many arrangers of composers from the MAO camp have come up with such pieces, providing dance rhythms of the bossa nova, samba, rhumba and even the beguine. On the albums of MAO, numbering almost two dozen, many tracks show inspiration from the „Latin” world. Such as We Have Matt, published on Dedications, as well as the composition of Gábor Subicz, called Fountain, but many other composers and arrangers of the band, including orchestra leader Fekete-Kovács Kornél could listed here.

The three Vienna-based musicians Andrej Prozorov, Judith Ferstl and András Dés have known and appreciated each other and their projects for a long time and have now fulfilled their wish to enter in a dialogue deriving from the character of chamber music. Plan A quickly turns into Plan B and develops into Plan C in the very next moment. Their original compositions offer a playground that can be abandoned at any time and in any direction.

Kosmonauci is a boy band with a jazz background that draws on hip-hop, drum & bass and improvisation in its musical language. The instrumentation, which includes saxophone, bass, vibraphone and drums, creates the group's unique style, balancing between emotional melodies and polyrhythmic structures. March 21, 2024 saw the release of their debut album Sorry, nie tu. It was released on U Jazz Me, a sublabel of U Know Me Records. It is the inaugural album of the sublabel. It is worth mentioning that the entire run of the vinyl sold out in preorders even before the release. On June 7th, Kosmonauci won the Sanki award, organized by Gazeta Wyborcza, which highlights the most interesting faces on the Polish music scene.  

Az estet – eltekintve néhány oldott pillanattól – az elmúlás feletti bánat, fájdalom foglalja egybe. Hiszen nem csak a művek címei jelzik az élet komor fényeit, hanem azok zeneisége is. A cím egyébként – mely az esten felhangzó első darabé is – ismerős azoknak, akik olvasták Karel Schultz könyvét Michelangelo Buonarottiról, hiszen ennek címe: Kőbe zárt fájdalom. Ezen felül az est vezérfonala a víz is, mely különböző színekben, halmazállapotban jelenik meg. S ami még összekapcsolja a kompozíciókat – és a szerzőket is –, hogy számos közülük szinte ugyanazon a helyen született, Dunabogdányban, ahol mindkét zeneszerző alkot, ahol „műhelyeik” légvonalban mindössze néhány 10 méterre találhatók. A koncerten jelen lesz a két alkotó is, akik maguk avatják be az érdeklődőket a darabok keletkezéstörténetébe.

Masovian Mantra is an original jazz project by Michał Barański combining elements of Polish and Indian folklore, and featuring top musicians of the Polish and international jazz scene, including Israeli guitarist Shachar Elnatan whose debut album was produced by Avishai Cohen. Jazz at the highest European level, their music combines inspiration from Masovian and Indian folk music, resulting in very melodic and rhythmic sounds. Electric and double bass player Michał Barański is a creative and brave artist of the contemporary Polish jazz scene. His achievements, regardless of concert and educational activities, include several dozen albums, produced alongside leaders representing various, sometimes extreme, regions of the music scene: Bennie Maupin, Dayna Stephens, Dan Tepfer, Tomasz Stanko, Michal Urbaniak, or Zbigniew Namysłowski. Recently, he has been studying Indian Carnatic music and demonstrating Indian vocal percussion (konnakol) in practice. His debut album as a leader, Masovian Mantra won the Fryderyk award (the Polish Grammy) for „Best Jazz Album of the Year” and „Jazz Artist of the Year” in 2023.  

While Vivaldi is widely known as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptionally skilled violinist as well. In September 1703, he became maestro di violino at an orphanage called the Pio Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. Vivaldi was only 25 when he started working at the orphanage. Over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working there. The girls received a musical education, and the most talented among them stayed and became members of the Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir. Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad, too. Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music for them. A selection of these works is presented by György Lakatos, the Concerto Armonico Budapest, and guest soloists in their concert series arriving to its 11th episode. György Lakatos gives a short introduction about the music in Hungarian.

Michał Aftyka Quintet represents the new generation of Polish improvised music. Their music communicates the emotions experienced by modern individuals – ranging from unabashed delight in the present moment, through confusion in unverified theories, to fear associated with the development of cutting-edge technologies. The quintet’s music is inspired by the contemporary German scene (Petter Eldh, Christian Lillinger, Robert Landfermann, Elias Stemeseder) as well as the American scene (Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Mark Turner). On October 31, 2023, their debut album Frukstrakt was released by Multikulti Project. The album was honored with a Fryderyk award (Polish Grammy) in the “Phonographic Debut of the Year – Jazz” category, and received a nomination for the prestigious Deutscher Jazzpreis in the “Debut Album of The Year – International” category. This fall, they plan to release another studio recording.  

Slovakia and Hungary are neighbours not only geographically, but also in a cultural and intellectual sense. We now invite listeners to a virtual cultural journey that can only be brought to life through the means of contemporary music, here and now at the BMC in Budapest and at the Melos-Etos Festival in Bratislava, collaborating in the realization of the concert. Between works by two Slovak and two Hungarian composers, we will also stop at two contemporary compositions that have already become a classic: the Ballata No. 2 by Francesco Filidei and Fermata – pause, suspended time – by the recently passed Péter Eötvös, which was composed for UMZE. In this episode of the UMZE series, we can listen to the sounds between two countries, two cultures, and the silence between these sounds.

Frank Rosolino on trombone and Conte Candoli on trumpet are great masters of playing in a polished and exquisite way. They are usually put under the label West Coast, although they have created so many lasting works beyond that. Listening to the recording published under the title Conversation, recorded at a gig in Munich in 1975, we get the feeling that the golden age of jazz has never ended. Utilising their experience of having played together for long decades, they are able to foretell the ideas of the other. The joy of playing can be felt in each moment, and they display humour and wit even in the ballads. Rosolino’s far-reaching arches and smart improvisations are countered with just as much esprit on the trumpet. The balanced mood of the recording is also due to the fact that all the standards they play, except for the opening number, penned by Sonny Rollins, are from the forties, originally Broadway numbers. The members of the Dutch-German rhythm section serve as an equal match to the two American legends. The pianist is Rob Pronk, who later conducted the majestic Metropole Orchest, too.

Guitarist and songwriter Péter Cseh formed his trio in 2019 and released his first album, Plains to See, early last year. The songs on the album, all original compositions, cover a wide range of musical genres, but the creative experimentation and improvisation so characteristic of jazz remains present throughout. Péter Cseh has found true musical partners in bassist Marcell Gyányi and drummer Ambrus Richter, who approach any musical material with an open and sensitive approach. This time, their evening follows a special itinerary: the trio will be joined by saxophonist János Ávéd, and in some parts of the concert, the line-up will be further expanded with a string orchestra. With their contribution, chamber jazz, which was already present in the concept of Plains to See, now will unfold through the brand new compositions of Péter Cseh.  

Sélène Saint-Aimé is an Afro-French contrabassist, singer, poet and composer with Caribbean and West African origins. She studied with internationally acclaimed bassists Ron Carter and Lonnie Plaxico as well as saxophonist, conceptualist Steve Coleman. Sélène lately received a Victoire du Jazz 2021 award in the Rising star category for her highly acclaimed first record Mare Undarum. Her second album, Potomitan (2022) is highly esteemed by the international press. Sometimes, Sélène takes some time off of touring for ongoing research and musical studies. She is currently a composer in residence at Tropiques Atrium in Martinique, and one of the 2022 Villa Albertine laureate in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has also built a non-profit called Afropolis that aims to promote and develop the practice of new forms of traditional music from Martinique.  

A Central European String Quartet tagjai egy különleges, rendkívül egységes formációvá kovácsolódtak, amely 2017 óta aktív és meghatározó szereplője a magyar zenei életnek. A kvartett tagjai számos alkalommal léptek fel neves hazai és nemzetközi zenekarokkal, valamint a világ legjelentősebb koncerttermeiben. Munkájukat innovatív projektek és izgalmas programok jellemzik, 2018-ban pedig először hirdették meg nemzetközi zeneszerzőversenyüket, amelyre 27 országból összesen 75 pályamű érkezett. A kvartett elkötelezetten támogatja a kortárs klasszikus zenét és aktívan működik együtt élő zeneszerzőkkel új alkotások létrehozásában. Világszerte számos zeneszerző jelentkezik, hogy a neves CESQ előadásában hallhassa művét. A kvartett olyan rangos fesztiválok állandó vendégeként szerepelt, mint a Művészetek Völgye és a MiraTone Fesztivál és Akadémia, és olyan ikonikus koncerthelyszíneken léptek fel, mint a Zeneakadémia, a Müpa, a Magyar Rádió Márványterme, a Liszt Ferenc Emlékmúzeum, a Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, az Óbudai Társaskör és a salzburgi Mirabell Kastély, ahol elismert művészekkel közösen léptek színpadra. A Bartók és Beethoven zenei öröksége a vonósnégyes műfajában szakmai program megvalósítását 2024. évben a Magyar Művészeti Akadémia támogatta.

Edredon Sensible plays trance music. Minimalist jazz, almost primitive. Explosive. In their world, we find ardour and faith, body and mind. Two relentless polyrhythmic drummers and two tenor and baritone saxophonists take an insane pleasure in stretching out attacks and playing them in infinite loops, refreshing lovers of an elementary but wild jazz, focused on trance, with their roots set in every continent.  

Formed in 2001, the Corpus Trombone Quartet has won four international competitions in its history. The ensemble has been awarded the Artisjus Prize three times for the works dedicated to & performed by them. They will perform a selection of these pieces at this concert. The quartet's main sponsor is the British instrument maker Michael Rath. The Corpus Quartet was awarded the Franz Liszt Prize in 2024 by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation.

When accidents happen, they are normally over in seconds, sometimes minutes; this one has been going on for 20 years. It has been two decades since the members of Emile Parisien's quartet played a jam session together. At the end, they looked at each other in disbelief. They had not just been hit by a collective musical thunderbolt, they also knew they had just brought... well... something... into being. The common ground between them was jazz, but each had all kinds of seeds to sow in it, from classical music and contemporary sounds to rock, electronica and chanson. These four rip up labels, break down barriers, upset codes, and yet they know exactly where they are headed. There is a shared obsession with narrative. “The central axis of the quartet has always been storytelling,” the saxophonist emphasises. Let Them Cook is like a breath of fresh air, and with a band sound now firmly and unmistakably of 2024 rather than 2004. There was a particular turning point: at a concert in Sweden near the end of their Double Screening album tour, they had taken a chance and tried out a move from an entirely acoustic sound to incorporate some electronics. It worked, so they stayed with it: they found that these electronic punctuations never polluted the band’s DNA, but rather stimulated it. The electronic apparatus was clearly additive to the stories of these compositions, the way it all fitted together was astounding. Which brings us back to the ever-present question: how do you get away from the classic jazz quartet of sax, piano, bass and drums? “We're always trying to find the answer! There's no point in redoing what the John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter groups did, because in many ways you’ll never reach their level.” “There's a certain road in life most people walk on,” Wayne Shorter once said, “because it's familiar, and they can jostle to get in front. I prefer to take a different road that's less crowded, with many forks, where you get a wider view of life. I call it ‘the road less travelled’. That's where I want to be.” In the year which marks its 20th anniversary, Emile Parisien's quartet has never been more in tune with the thinking of one of its main influences. Marc Zisman  

A podium conversation with music therapists. Music Therapy Club is an open meeting-place of music therapists, medical, educational and social workers, as well as of anybody interested in music therapy. (In Hungarian) 

Ephemere was founded by two excellent young singers, Izabella Caussanel and Lilla Orbay. The band unites the new generation of award-winning, internationally acclaimed Hungarian musicians. Their compositions evoke the jazz and chanson world of the first half of the 20th century, spiced with Latin atmosphere, recreating the intimate and cosy atmosphere of bars. The band's repertoire is extremely diverse: in addition to their own songs in Hungarian and French, it includes jazz standards, French chansons and world music influences, all combined with a unique sound. This summer they released their second album. The name Ephemere is derived from the French equivalent of mayfly, but the band has given a new meaning to it: for them it stands for rebirth and living in the moment. The contrast between the improvisational jazz style and the composed musical elements makes the band instantly recognisable.  

The music of Uusi Aika has echoes of folk music, Japanese aesthetics, early 20th century art music and jazz traditions. The band's organic music flows with unhurried pace. Soundwise the the core of Uusi Aika consist of mysterious sonorities and strong melodies, not forgetting free improvisation. The band's music could be described as introspective and meditative, but that's only a part of the story. The instrumentation is mostly acoustic and their sound organic to the bone, but the music's slowly unfolding character brings to mind some deep abstract electronic music or experimental dub explorations at times. That is, there's power just under the surface, just beautifully out of focus. Among more “conventional” instrumentation the sound palette of Uusi Aika is from time to time flavoured by instruments such as the Indian sitar and the Japanese shakuhachi flute.  

Ambergris is a grease-like substance of the sperm whale's digestive tract that is used in the finest perfumes. Ambergris was chosen as this quartet's name as a metaphor of the product of the creative process of an artist, who draws from a stock of experiences and emotions, collected throughout life, and create beauty out of it. The compositions performed by the band are a result of that process, they are ambergris themselves, a chaotic mass of stories, digested and reshaped into music. The band members have forged their special artistic and human bond through their long-lasting experience together in several bands active in the Dutch music scene. Their music is a colourful set of original songs made of non-conventional forms, elaborate harmonies often coming from the classical music world, heart-breaking melodies that draw inspiration from Italian popular music – all performed by a revisited version of the most traditional type of ensemble in jazz, a saxophone quartet.  

In 1838, when Robert Schumann discovered Franz Schubert's Symphony in C major (ten years after the composer's death), he wrote a detailed account of it, emphasising the piece's "heavenly length". "It is like a four-volume, lengthy novel", he summed up, which the writer cannot finish, "and for the best of reasons, so that the reader can also recreate it". The hypersensitive Schumann touched on one of the most exciting aspects of Schubert's music: these works offer the listener a sense of infinity, partly through their scope, partly through the ever renewing possibilities of interpretation they offer, partly through a special musical quality. The 2024-25 season of Gábor Csalog Sundays will focus on Schubert's music, and on the first evening the pianist and his regular conversation partner, music historian Gergely Fazekas, will explore the theme of musical infinity before the grand G major Sonata is performed. The language of the conversation is Hungarian.

Founded in 2018, the Korossy Quartet aims to transmit the famous Hungarian string quartet tradition, and to present the broadest possible repertoire to Hungarian and foreign audiences. In 2021, the ensemble was awarded 5 different special prizes at the international Bartók World Competition, and a year later they were accepted into the class of Günter Pichler, first violinist of the legendary Alban Berg Quartet, at the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid. The Korossy Quartet's Bartók series, starting in autumn 2023, includes all of Bartók's string quartets in 6 concerts over 2 years, paired with a selection of works by the greatest composers of music history. Péter Eötvös's string quartet Korrespondenz is a symbiosis of text and music. Through this composition, Eötvös enters into a dialogue with the classics: the instruments of the quartet engage in "conversations" in which excerpts from the correspondence of Leopold Mozart and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are transcribed for the string quartet. Wolfgang is represented by the viola, Leopold by the cello, while the two violins are present as the surrounding family. The first half of the concert focuses entirely on the classics, with the String Quartet in C major from Joseph Haydn's Opus 20, composed in 1772. Out of Bartók's six String Quartets, which form the backbone of the concert series, No. 4 will be performed this time. Composed in September 1928, this large-scale work is centred around the slow movement (Non troppo lento), which is enclosed by two scherzi (Prestissimo, con sordino and Allegretto Pizzicato) and further surrounded by two fast movements at the edges (Allegro, Allegro molto) – this is the so-called bridge form. Photo: Andrea Felvégi

A „ballad” played by jazz musicians and singers is supposed to be slow and is typically about romantic feelings. What the leader of MAO, Kornél Fekete-Kovács adds regarding their choice of ballads for this program is that so much could be grouped here, anything that is rather introvert  and fits the mood of the season. The repertoire of the big band contains a lot of traditional, and quite many unusual ballads. This time, we’ll be enjoying a set in some way similar to the „Ballad” recordings of Charlie Parker and other groundbreaking players. A typical example could be Under the Waterfalls, penned by the leader of the orchestra, which was first performed by the legendary Benny Golson in concert featured by MAO. Matching the concept of providing a cross section, slow movements will be played on their own from larger suites usually played in their entirety, such as the ones by Attila Korb, Gábor Cseke, Szabolcs Oláh and others.

This atypical orchestra of seven musicians has been offering joyful, unusual, generous, sensual, poetic and pleasantly crazy music for over twenty years. Before becoming Orchestra, Rêve d'éléphant was a dance show. From these origins, it keeps in its genes the love of rhythm and movement. Since its creation in 2000, the group has released five albums. The special sound of the Rêve d'éléphant Orchestra makes the group recognisable from its first notes. Didier Levallet – composer, French double bass player and director of the Jazz en Clunisois festival – talks about it better than we do: “(...) it's an orchestra that comes from Belgium... A title that I find quite appropriate because it's a bit surreal and we know that Belgium is a country that not only for reasons of internal politics, but also for artistic reasons has many links with surrealism. And this relatively large orchestra of seven musicians produces music that is at the same time very exuberant, very generous, very free, but also very rigorous in its writing, very colourful, very joyful. It's music that surprises us in the right sense of the word, very open to many things, many influences, that goes from one thing to another in a completely natural way; I don't find it artificial at all. Today, musicians have the possibility to pick from everywhere, and sometimes it's just pointless editing. It's not world music, it's still jazz, because it's the way of making music that counts, whatever the sources; besides, I don't think there are any literal borrowings from outside music, from world music, but it's an open state of mind.” Rêve d'éléphant now tours in Germany, Austria and Hungary with the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International.  

The Coltrane Legacy sextet was founded in 2017, on the 50th anniversary of Coltrane's death, by one of the most sought-after musicians on the Hungarian jazz scene, bassist György Orbán. In the decade and a half from the mid-1950s until his death in 1967, the saxophonist laid new foundations for modern jazz. He created a legacy of music that has influenced generations of musicians ever since, reaching ever more spiritual dimensions. An experienced bassist who has played in many bands, György Orbán thought the best way to honour the saxophonist's legacy was to create a group that would play both original compositions inspired by Coltrane's music and new arrangements of Coltrane’s songs. The compositions, of course, take Coltrane's tradition as their starting point and continue to reflect the abstract spirit and tools of our time, thus continuing the spiritual jazz tradition. The members of the band are outstanding personalities of the Hungarian jazz scene, their progressive way of thinking and unique musicality have enabled them to work together as a team for the seventh year in a row with unbroken creative enthusiasm.  

Ki is volt ez a szuperhős – mesemondó, aki bejárta a világot, elvitte a hírünket Amerikába, és azóta is a leghíresebb magyar? Aki imádta a természetet, szeretett mindenfélét gyűjteni – állatokat, hangokat, dallamokat? Aki számára mindig fontos volt a barátság? Aki a testvériséget hirdette és persze az örömet, ami a zene egyik lényege? Most megtudhatjuk egy interaktív, zenés-táncos délelőttön.

Ki is volt ez a szuperhős – mesemondó, aki bejárta a világot, elvitte a hírünket Amerikába, és azóta is a leghíresebb magyar? Aki imádta a természetet, szeretett mindenfélét gyűjteni – állatokat, hangokat, dallamokat? Aki számára mindig fontos volt a barátság? Aki a testvériséget hirdette és persze az örömet, ami a zene egyik lényege? Most megtudhatjuk egy interaktív, zenés-táncos délelőttön.

Az üveggyöngyjáték, avagy a „játékok játéka” egy titokzatos, univerzális, magasrendű művészeti és tudományos játék, amely ugyanakkor szellemi virtuozitása mellett szemlélődést, elmélkedést is magába foglal. Egyfajta tudományokon átívelő egyetemes nyelv, a szellemi emberek valamiféle világnyelve, „amelynek értelmes jeleivel a játékosok értékeket fejezhettek ki, és képesek voltak őket kapcsolatba hozni egymással. A játék minden korban szoros összefüggésben volt a zenével, s többnyire zenei vagy matematikai szabályok szerint folyt.”Hermann Hesse 1943-ban publikált Az üveggyöngyjáték című regényéből megismerhetjük Josef Knecht üveggyöngyjáték-mester (Magister Ludi) életét, valamint a Kasztália nevű tudósállamot, amelynek középpontjában az üveggyöngyjáték művészete áll. Bár Hesse Kasztáliájában nincsen alkotóművészet, csak előadóművészet és (zene)tudomány, a regényből kiderül, hogy maga Knecht is végzett alkotói tevékenységet. Ezen felbátorodva arra kértem három magyar zeneszerzőt, hogy írjanak egy-egy kompozíciót Az üveggyöngyjátékra reflektálva.

"...A wonderful discovery..." (Citizen Jazz, France) Chamber music artpop is the expression that might best describe the unique genre of Mozes & Kaltenecker, a group formed by singer-pianist Tamara Mózes and keyboardist Zsolt Kaltenecker. This evening they will perform a special pogramme, playing their own compositions as well as some well-known songs in a new arrangement, with a variety of pop and rock elements and modern jazz improvisations. The band's debut album Futurized was released in October 2022 on BMC Records. They are currently working on their second album, and will give a taste of its material too. In recent years, the duo has performed at numerous venues abroad, including the Gaume Jazz Festival in Belgium, the Ljubljana Jazzfest+ in Slovenia, the Jazz u Vinogradu Festival in Croatia, and, last but not least, Jazzahead! in Germany, one of the most prestigious events on the European jazz scene.  

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This year marks the 275th anniversary of the birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the 250th anniversary of the publication of his play Clavigo. The February masterclass of the Péter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation at the Budapest Music Center was linked to this double anniversary, with the ultimate goal of creating a new contemporary chamber opera. Clavigo is the result of the Foundation’s last masterclass that was planned down to the smallest detail by Péter Eötvös, who sadly passed away in March. The scenes of the drama were set to music over the spring and summer months by four young composers: Aurélie Ferrière, Dan Chappell, Elias Frisk, and Daniele Di Virgilio, for string quartet and four vocal soloists, with the help of professors Gergely Vajda, Balázs Horváth and Robert HP Platz. The process will come to its conclusion in December: the Classicus Quartet, the vocal soloists and the four composers, under the direction of conductor Susanne Blumenthal, prepare for the chamber opera's concert premiere on 7 December at the Budapest Music Center, followed by a concert performance at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin on 9 December. This project is supported by Kunststiftung NRW, and Collegium Hungaricum Berlin.

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If, at all, Herbie Hancock has ever made a wrong decision, then it was to give the name V.S.O.P. to one of the fieriest bands he ever had, as this is supposed to be the label for a cognac which paled for at least four years. Miles Davis, on the other hand, could have regretted in hindsight, that he did not honour the invitation of Hancock to play as a guest at the 1976 Newport Jazz Fest. Freddie Hubbard took the trumpet part to join a group of Davis alumni: Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. They played straight-ahead, so to say, but with a vigour that only jazz-rock musicians can display, nothing of paleness there, full power instead. They recorded this album three years later in Japan at an open-air festival, and they are on fire all the way through, displaying huge dynamism and vast perspectives, all five of them breathing as one. They only played originals until the encore, showing compositional bravado, exciting harmonic changes, and intriguing dialogues. They take us along the full scale of emotions from Eyes of the Hurricane to Fragile.   

After his contemporary and jazz projects of recent years, Miklós Lukács, the ambassador of the cimbalom in Hungary and worldwide, has returned to pure beauty on his new solo album Timeless, arranging well-known songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Sting, Ennio Morricone, Leonard Bernstein, Keith Jarrett, Harold Arlen, and Rezső Seress. The musical history of the past creeps again and again into his arrangements as a sweet spice, be it in the garb of classical music, jazz, or traditional musical cultures. Nevertheless, he focuses primarily on the present and not on musical precursors, so the singable melodies engage the listener's emotional memory and at the same time give us the pleasure of a first hearing. The arrangements are complemented by an original composition, Aura – Hommage à Péter Eötvös, in which Miklós Lukács creates a new quality by fusing accessible melodicism and experience in contemporary music. He performs the songs on Timeless live for the very first time. Miklós Lukács has brought the cimbalom as a solo instrument to the forefront of contemporary music and jazz both at home and abroad, and has developed a number of techniques beyond the traditional playing style to achieve unique sounds. Composers like Peter Eötvös and Béla Szakcsi Lakatos have written pieces for him, and he has played with musicians and orchestras such as Archie Shepp, Bill Frisell, Chris Potter, Uri Caine, Frank London, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. After his achievements in contemporary music and jazz, it was time to turn his attention to the popular side of the repertoire, where he is once again a pioneer: no other album has been released ever to showcase the diversity and potential of the solo cimbalom by performing well-known songs.  

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Among the pillars of StEFREM's broad repertoire are works for male choir by Hungarian composers, primarily Liszt, Bartók and Kodály, as well as compositions dedicated to the ensemble by contemporary Hungarian masters. They have released several albums of these works on BMC Records. The series A Genius Is Born is a tribute to the male choir works by the three greatest Hungarian masters of music, so it is no coincidence that the concerts are taking place on the composers' birthdays. A special feature of the concert programme is that StEFREM's personal selection of works by the classical composers is complemented by outstanding and interesting pieces by their "heirs", the Hungarian composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. StEFREM is a Budapest-based vocal ensemble with a unique sound. The multi award-winning ensemble regularly performs throughout Europe, from London to Bucharest, and has also performed in Africa, India and South America. They have worked with renowned artists such as Abeer Nehme, Victor Solomon, and the King's Singers, and have released 18 albums since 2002. Their rich and varied repertoire includes Byzantine and classical pieces, crossover arrangements and acapella pop songs. 142 years ago on this day Zoltán Kodály was born, whose musical vision and work had a profound influence on the Hungarian musical world of the 20th century. His educational credo, known today as the Kodály Method, still helps achieve great results in the education of children around the world. Although he considered mixed choir singing to be the pinnacle of choral music, Kodály also composed many excellent works for men's choir. Today, the StEfrem performs some of these works, which are well suited to the sound of a small chamber ensemble. Great poems, quotations, sacred and folk texts from Kodály and Hungarian composers who proudly embrace his legacy will be brought to life. Further concerts in this series: 22 October 2024 19:00 St.EFREM: A Genius is Born I. | Franz Liszt and his Musical Heritage25 March 2025 19:00 St.EFREM: A Genius is Born III. | Béla Bartók and his Musical Heritage

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Duke Ellington was the one whose eponymous composition made Sacred Music an acceptable term in jazz, to signifiy an inspired and elevated state of mind, one which was reached by many jazz musicians to go beyond the world of regular music played in the church. Although one of the early albums of the Modern Art Orchestra is a Christmas album, but this time they have shifted more towards expressing those deep and inner feelings that do not really resemble the seasonal repertoire, rather the experience of the transcendent in a more personal way. This was the artistic position leading to the adaptation of the oratorical piece by Franz Liszt, Via Crucis, but they will also interpret classic parts of Messiah by Händel, and Bach will also be adapted for the big band.

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Mint tudjuk, Beethoven a zene Mozartja. Magyarul: minden klasszikus zenészek alfája és omegája, a legnagyobb lázadó, a legvagányabb rocker, aki a zenét a sarkaiból fordította ki, aki a sorssal is dacolt: pá-pá-pá-páááám! Ezt a szuperhőst hozzuk el szűk egy órában Szemenyei János színész és Hámori Máté házigazda-karmester segítségével, bemutatva, hogy hogyan is lehet egy kétszáz éves zene ma is kemény, feszes, forradalmi, pörgős és megdöbbentően érzékeny egyszerre. Lesz zongorázás, zenekari lárma, siketség-szimulátor és sok minden más. Csak erős idegzetűeknek!

Mint tudjuk, Beethoven a zene Mozartja. Magyarul: minden klasszikus zenészek alfája és omegája, a legnagyobb lázadó, a legvagányabb rocker, aki a zenét a sarkaiból fordította ki, aki a sorssal is dacolt: pá-pá-pá-páááám! Ezt a szuperhőst hozzuk el szűk egy órában Szemenyei János színész és Hámori Máté házigazda-karmester segítségével, bemutatva, hogy hogyan is lehet egy kétszáz éves zene ma is kemény, feszes, forradalmi, pörgős és megdöbbentően érzékeny egyszerre. Lesz zongorázás, zenekari lárma, siketség-szimulátor és sok minden más. Csak erős idegzetűeknek!

After four concerts in 2023, János Mátyás Stark, Gergely Devich and Fülöp Ránki are announcing a new series at the BMC, now under the name of Trio Haris. The third concert will feature two of the classical giants of the piano trio genre, Haydn and Beethoven. Haydn, as in so many of his works, is making countless subtle jokes in his Trio in E major. Even the string pizzicatos of the main theme at the very beginning of the piece are not out of the ordinary, not to mention the long piano solo in the slow movement and the sometimes breakneck modulations. The work's majesty and loftiness make it an ideal counterpart to Beethoven's 'Archduke' Trio – although their character makes it evident that while Haydn dedicated his trio to a virtuoso pianist, Beethoven's piece is addressed to Archduke Rudolf of Habsburg-Lorraine, to whom the composer dedicated many of his compositions. One of the most large-scale works in the trio repertoire, it is symphonic in scale yet retains the softness of the B flat major tonality and the the intimacy so characteristic of a small chamber ensemble, and its Andante in D major is one of Beethoven's most touching slow variational movements. Further concerts in this series: 5 October 2024 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) I. | Haydn, Liszt, Schubert4 January 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) II. | Takemitsu, Schubert, Shostakovich7 June 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) IV. | Schumann and Brahms

Among the pillars of StEFREM's broad repertoire are works for male choir by Hungarian composers, primarily Liszt, Bartók and Kodály, as well as compositions dedicated to the ensemble by contemporary Hungarian masters. They have released several albums of these works on BMC Records. The series A Genius Is Born is a tribute to the male choir works by the three greatest Hungarian masters of music, so it is no coincidence that the concerts are taking place on the composers' birthdays. A special feature of the concert programme is that StEFREM's personal selection of works by the classical composers is complemented by outstanding and interesting pieces by their "heirs", the Hungarian composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. StEFREM is a Budapest-based vocal ensemble with a unique sound. The multi award-winning ensemble regularly performs throughout Europe, from London to Bucharest, and has also performed in Africa, India and South America. They have worked with renowned artists such as Abeer Nehme, Victor Solomon, and the King's Singers, and have released 18 albums since 2002. Their rich and varied repertoire includes Byzantine and classical pieces, crossover arrangements and acapella pop songs. Béla Bartók was born 143 years ago on one of the most important Christian feasts: the Feast of the Assumption, also known as the Feast of the Annunciation, on 25 March. Bartók's unique, pure art has quickly become particularly influential for the whole music culture, and continues to be so even 80 years after his death. Out of the Hungarian geniuses, Liszt wrote more than sixty male works, Kodály twenty, Bartók only six, but these are true gems of the genre, and span his entire oeuvre. In particular, the Songs from Olden Times and the Székely Folk Songs are seminal in the literature of men's choral music. In the final episode of the three-part concert series A Genius is Born, Bartók's works will be accompanied by compositions and transcriptions by six contemporary Hungarian composers. Further concerts in this series: 22 October 2024 19:00 St.EFREM: A Genius is Born I. | Franz Liszt and his Musical Heritage16 December 2024 19:00 St.EFREM: A Genius is Born II. | Zoltán Kodály and his Musical Heritage