The Vasas Artistic Ensemble's Lajos Vass Choir, celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, was founded in 1903 as a male choir, then reorganised as a mixed choir in 1948. The three pillars of its repertoire are contemporary Hungarian music, large-scale oratorios and a cappella pieces. The choir had the honour to premiere Zrínyi Szózata by Zoltán Kodály and Mathias Rex by Lajos Vass. The ensemble took over the name of its former conductor, the Erkel Prize-winning composer Lajos Vass, in 1994 and has been committed to promoting his work and preserving his legacy ever since. It is still crucial for them that all age groups can show their voice and continue the decades-old tradition.

The Lajos Vass Choir has established a tradition of organising conducting courses, their concerts instigated meetings between renowned and emerging conductors, and in 2023, they held their first choir meeting with three guest choirs. They have built up a rich international network and won prizes at competitions in Hungary and abroad. Since 2015, their conductor has been Dániel Szűcs, joined in 2023 by Zsófia Székely as assistant conductor.

The programme of their festive concert will focus on the greats of Hungarian choral music: they will evoke Lajos Vass and Kodály, commemorate György Ligeti, who was born 100 years ago, and perform a piece by György Orbán, perhaps the most popular Hungarian choral composer of our time.