The music of Tariqa is an organic and unique fusion where Moroccan Gnawa and Hungarian folk music meet to reveal a new musical domain. Saïd Tichiti, a native of the Moroccan Sahara, brings the pulsating rhythms of gnawa trance rituals, the mystical melodies of Arabic maqam, and the invigorating energy of chaabi. Péter Bede and Ferenc Kovács, masters of jazz and Hungarian folk music,contribute their rich styles to this musical alchemy. Ádám Mészáros and András Halmos, seasoned musicians from various formations and adept practitioners of afrobeat and improvisation, add even more colors to this musical kaleidoscope. Tariqa's immersive concerts are ritual experiences where the audience becomes a participant, not just a listener. In today's isolation, there is a growing need for such transcendent communal experiences that can bring collective healing. No concerts are alike; each performance is a new and unrepeatable journey. As William Burroughs put it, Gnawa is "the world's oldest, 4000-year-old rock 'n' roll," and thistradition is reborn in a new form through Tariqa's art.   Crossbreed by Tariqa

Trio MIT is a radiant fusion of diverse musical worlds, brought to life by Austrian pianist Christoph Cech, Syrian oud player Orwa Saleh, and the masterful violinist Andreas Schreiber. "MIT," an acronym for "Music in Touch," encapsulates their vision of music as a force that touches, unites, and engages in exchange. Through their music they take the audience on an unforgettable journey. The musicians are not focused on persuasion but, in the tradition of storytelling, on transporting the listeners into the vast realms of imagination. For them, the term "cultural appropriation" has a positive connotation, as it represents the true root of musical creation for Trio MIT. Alongside traditional playing styles, Orwa Saleh draws on classic rock riffs, while Christoph Cech combines extended chord language with Maqams. The result is an unparalleled music that distances itself from trendy hotspots and is thus accessible to any audience.  

Jü, formed in 2012, has become, by now, one of the most exciting jazz acts on the Hungarian music scene. With each successive release, the world of the Budapest-based trio band seems to become exponentially larger and encompass an ever-expanding range of vibrant and startling influences. More than anything, their music reflects a core drive to explore traditions and ideas from far-flungcorners of the world, returning with a vital and pulse-quickening sound accented by countless disparate influences yet singularly possessing its own boldly uncategorizable voice. By pushing their instruments to new limits, the musicians transport their entranced audiences from the constantly flowing present into the future. The band opens minds with their clear, open approach and spirited improvisation, always pushing each other and the limits of the composition, but never allowing the structure to fall apart. Blending elements of world music, experimental jazz and rock, a vast variety of progressive and traditional musics, bleeding-edge electronics and ancient folk, it is an exhilarating sum even more profound and pulse-quickening than its already brilliant parts.  

Born in 1943, H. K. Gruber is both the doyen and the daredevil of Austrian composers. His 1977 Frankenstein!! (Mr. Superman) has toured most of the world's concert halls and will be heard for the first time on the stage of the Budapest Music Center. Just as Gruber's piece evokes the classic Viennese cabaret, Aurél Holló's percussion concerto, composed for himself, evokes the world of jazz, and Michael Daugherty's bravura piece, which resurrects Elvis Presley as a bassoonist, evokes the world of rock and roll. Máté Bella is perhaps the only internationally acclaimed Hungarian composer who has achieved great success in both contemporary classical and pop music. His composition, commissioned by the UMZE Ensemble, also explores the connections between avant-garde music and pop culture in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Korhan Futacı, born in 1977, is a versatile artist based in Istanbul. Renowned for his proficiency as a saxophonist, composer, producer, singer, and songwriter, he has become a prominent figure in Turkey's alternative music scene. Futacı's solo project is a fusion of traditional Turkish music and free-improvised music, delicately intertwined with the essence of Anatolia. Through his compositions, he endeavors to transform the bustling chaos of Istanbul into an immersive and ritualistic experience, characterized by energetic atmospheres, dark undertones, and abstract textures. Collaborating with his fellow musicians, Futacı aspires to transport audiences beyond the confines of time and space, allowing them to perceive the unseen colors of resonances within his music.

Dixieland, jazz, musical, EDM, rap, charleston – what connects these genres and dances? How do they appear in the different pieces of a composer? Why do these styles interest a composer? A raw material, some kind of rhythmic pulsation, a special soundworld, some other detail is what shows and then hides itself in the works of Balázs Horváth. If you're paying attention, you might be able to recognize some of the music that pops up. But you have to be very careful, because some of them just flash and disappear. The more comfortable listeners will not be left on their own. Before the pieces are played, the composer will explain the background of the works and try to give a clue to finding and interpreting the quotations and allusions, and in the case of some works, he will also reveal their function and compositional creation.

The multi award-winning Nagy Emma Quintet represents the new generation of modern, contemporary jazz. Their experimental spirit plays an important role in shaping their sound, with heavy drum grooves, free improvisations, contemporary compositions in the form of songs, and other unique solutions equally emphasized in their pieces. This diversity strives not to be self-serving, but serves to enable the band to delve deeper into the layers of chamber music on stage. Contrasts and dissonance, improvisation and diversity, joy and spleen, contemporary sentiment, and grotesque, raw expression are all part of their style, revealing a kind of dreamlike charm. The band, celebrating its sixth birthday this year, has already come a long way, having performed in Italy, Poland, Spain, Slovakia, and making their debut in South Korea this year. They released their fourth album, Return in 2023.  

In the work of the Szilvia Bognár Sextet, three musical worlds meet and intertwine. The outstanding performers of the Hungarian jazz and world music scene, also highlighting their individual styles, combine folk songs of different nationalities with the characteristic motifs and moods of jazz and Indian classical music into a harmonious whole. In addition to Hungarian folk songs, the band's repertoire also includes arrangements of Hungarian Gypsy, Bulgarian, Greek, and, lately, Sephardic songs. In connection with the Petőfi anniversary, the composer Zoltán Kovács has also composed pieces related to the poet, which will also be performed during the evening. The ensemble has maintained its acoustic sound and its virtues: with great experience, they guide their audience through a stunning variety of musical styles and traditional melodies.

Instrumental students at the Liszt Academy's Doctoral School usually conclude their studies with a public concert. On this occasion, pianist András Németh has undertaken no smaller task than to perform one of if not the most referenced works of keyboard literature. The first volume of Bach's Wohltemperiertes Klavier tests the performer's skills with a total of 24 prelude-fugue pairs - and presents the listener with an experience of profound beauty.

This trio is led by internationally acclaimed pianist-composer Dániel Szabó, joining forces with two up-and-coming young musicians from the Hungarian scene, bassist Marcell Gyányi and drummer Ferenc Dániel Szabó. The backbone of their programme is formed by compositions of the band leader. A kaleidoscope – a rapid succession of colourful changes – is one way of describing the repertoire, which is nevertheless shaped into a unity by the unique language stemming from the composer's personality. Personal stories, momentary impressions, memories, feelings and emotions inspire Szabó's compositions, who is as at home in the intricate structures of African-American rhythms or the complex harmonies of jazz as he is in the language of Central and Eastern European, classical, and folk music. It is perhaps due to his deep love of literature, theatre and film that Szabó's music almost always tells a story, which, whether it has one or several threads, is full of tensions, resolutions, strong characters and atmospheres. He introduces the audience to this personal, rich world with his two accomplices, with whom he also works in other bands.  

Supporters:National Cultural Fund of Hungary, Fabienne Wind

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

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 (co-leaders of the Fonda/Stevens Group and Conference Call). 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.  

“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.  

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.   

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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

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.

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