Áron Tálas, who is, even by European standards, an outstanding pianist in the generation of young Hungarian musicians, is a rare exception: though he writes and playes music deeply embedded in tradition, the quality of his music admitted him into the catalogue of BMC Records, which comprises mainly modern productions. His trio has already released two albums on the label: on both Little Beggar (2018) and New Questions, Old Answers (2023), tracks with groove, melodies, and full of emotion represent the cream of the world of traditional jazz piano trios. At this concert, in addition to performing their favorite songs from the two albums, the trio will also offer a glimpse into the bandleader's new compositions.  

Concerto Budapest will be holding its three-day violin festival featuring Hungarian violinists in January 2026. In addition to showcasing the inexhaustible range of possibilities the instrument has to offer, the Violin Festival also provides an opportunity to encounter our nation’s finest violinists, including several combinations of teachers and students.

Concerto Budapest will be holding its three-day violin festival featuring Hungarian violinists in January 2026. In addition to showcasing the inexhaustible range of possibilities the instrument has to offer, the Violin Festival also provides an opportunity to encounter our nation’s finest violinists, including several combinations of teachers and students.

After the successful release of their album Calaveras y Boom Boom Chupitos on BMC Records in January 2025, the European ensemble Bonbon Flamme now returns to the Budapest Music Center for an exceptional, never-before-seen concert. For this third repertoire, titled “simplement possible” – recorded in the concert hall over the preceding days – Fulco Ottervanger, Luís Lopes, Étienne Ziemniak, and Valentin Ceccaldi invite us to drift into the wondrous realm of simplicity. A naïve, raw, and generous approach – where lullabies entwine with the feverish energy of a jazz tempest; where diamond-like sounds glimmer in a cloudy, scribbled sky. A way of moving forward without detours, straight to the heart and body – guided by the elusive totem of childhood’s creative force, and by that still-blurred threshold between dreams and reality. As simply as possible.  

Károly Binder is a musician of high calibre, who puts his talents at the service of the synthesis of new trends, different musical cultures, compositional techniques and improvisational systems, not forgetting his own musical roots. He is an autonomous composer whose piano playing and compositions cannot be classified by style or genre. With unrelenting consistency, Binder has pursued the path he set for himself since the late 1970s, a path on which he had no Hungarian predecessors. In his musical development, alongside the immense oeuvre of Béla Bartók, we can clearly trace the influence of the folk music of the Carpathian Basin and the melodic world of the Volga-Kama region, and even the American repetitive school hallmarked by Steve Reich. This time, the Binder Trio's program is based on two pillars: pieces from the For Children series, the centre of the band's latest five-disc release, as well as compositions by the bandleader, in which Bartók's legacy and contemporary jazz engage in dialogue.

This event of the Transparent Sound Film Club is dedicated to the recently deceased film director Judit Elek remembers with his film Tutajosok (Memories of a River), shot in 1989. The film deals with the events of the infamous Tiszaeszlár trial that took place in 1892-93, similar to Miklós Erdély’s film Verzió a decade earlier. The interesting thing about the work is that its music was composed by Péter Eötvös, using motifs by György Kurtág: in this way, the screening of this rarely seen film work is also connected to the Eötvös evening to be held at the Hungarian Music House, as well as to the series of events celebrating György Kurtág, who will be turning 100 in 2026.The film will be preceded by an introduction by composer Marcell Dargay, curator of the Átlátszó Hang New Music Festival.Hungarian language program.MEMORIES OF A RIVER Hungarian film, 1989, 147 minutesDirector: Judit ElekScreenwriter: Judit Elek, Péter NádasCinematographer: Gábor HalászEditor: Katalin KabdeboMusician: Péter Eötvös, György KurtágDramaturge: Zsuzsa BíróCostume: Erzsébet MihalkovszkySet design: Tamás BanovichSound engineer: György KovácsProduction manager: András OzoraiCast:Pál Hetényi, András Stohl, Sándor Gáspár, Franciszek Pieczka, Tamás Fodor, Róbert Koltai, Andor Lukáts, Zoltán Mucsi, János Ács, Tamás Erőss, Györgyi Tarján, Miklós Székely B., István MészárosWith the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

The Jamaican-born, New York-raised pianist Wynton Kelly (1931–1971) rose to global fame playing with Wes Montgomery and as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet, all while creating timeless recordings with his own trio. His first recordings as a leader, made in 1951, featured the stunning bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Lee Abrams. Blue Note released this session under the title New Faces, New Sounds, which was later retitled the more appropriate Piano Interpretations. Kelly was influenced by the rhythm and blues school and technically brilliant performers like Teddy Wilson: his playing is cheerful, quick, attractive, and even crafty – perhaps because he was not yet twenty years old at the time. He excels in his harmonization on the blues numbers and in the quick, rolling runs on the faster pieces. This material is a rewarding opportunity for the always precise and clearly articulating pianist, Gábor Cseke, and the rhythm section.

Daniel Mester travelled around the world to find his own musical universe, which accommodates the melodies of Anatolia, Indonesian scales and imaginary Hungarian folk songs. He began his musical studies as a classical clarinetist, and later started to learn jazz saxophone playing. He graduated at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and he not only had the opportunity to perform in many parts of the world (South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Morocco), but also to learn about musical heritages outside of Western musical traditions. He composed a couple of filmscores, and studying Turkish classical and folk music is another current inspiration for him, the impact of which is echoing in his compositions. His long-cherished dream of founding his own trio came true with the pandemic. He invited two talents of the young Hungarian jazz generation, guitarist Péter Cseh and drummer Tamás Hidász into this musical adventure. This evening, they will also be joined by the virtuosic master of the cimbalom, Kálmán Balogh. www.mesterdaniel.com

In 2026, Santa Diver, one of the most unique bands on the Hungarian jazz scene, will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The band consists of jazz violinist Luca Kézdy, multi-instrumentalist and composer Dávid Szesztay, and drummer Dávid Szegő, who has also been active as a composer in recent years. The three instruments and personalities represent a truly unique musical world, found at the intersection of jazz, world music, and modern creative. Their sound is defined by the unusual lineup (violin, bass guitar, drums), Luca Kézdy's unique violin playing with its wide emotional spectrum, colorful and melodic bass lines, and experimental, sometimes extreme, delicate yet energetic drumming. Besides Hungarian festivals and clubs, the trio has also performed at numerous festivals abroad: Chelsea Music Festival, NYC (US), Cairo Jazz Festival (EG), Südtirol Jazzfestival (IT), Sparks & Visions Jazz Festival (DE), Amersfoort World Jazz Festival (NL), Voll Damm Festival Jazz Vic (ES), Gaume Jazz Festival (BE).  Their 20th anniversary will be marked with a new album release and a series of concerts, beginning at the Opus stage. In addition to their latest compositions, they will of course also perform a selection of their most memorable songs from the past 20 years. The album is planned for release in the fall of 2026.

Cimbalom player Miklós Lukács is undoubtedly one of the most exceptional figures in Hungarian and international music: his classical music training has enabled him to delve deeply into both jazz and contemporary music. His virtuoso playing and constant experimentation have led him to discovering previously unknown sounds on his instrument. Alongside his own bands and solo career, he regularly works on new projects with excellent colleagues, creating thoughtful programmes where written compositions and improvisations born in the moment harmoniously complement each other, while the cimbalom unfolds its unparalleled range of sound. This time, he collaborates with widely recognized saxophonist János Ávéd and percussionist András Dés.

matter 100 was a commission by the Bimhuis, Amsterdam. In matter 100, Kaja moves towards song and sound; song on the level of form and sound as a navigator and idea generator. She is interested in using basic harmonic structures, coloured and expanded through microtonality, and working with amplification and audio effects to shape the sound of the group. Dean Young’s poetry, sometimes sang, other times narrated, moves between experimentation and surrealism. The choice of the individuals generated inspiration and direction in writing music; Kaja invited musicians across generations and musical backgrounds to open the possibilities, provide freshness, and challenge her composing. All the members of this international group have a pronounced sound of their own and a rich musical history, regardless of the age and country of origin. In the days of the concert, the band also records an album to be released on BMC Records.

What does Fluxus mean today? Flux Us Now! is a research-based documentary that explores the radical art movement of the 1960s through archival footage and interviews: composers, performers and curators recall how Fluxus dissolved the boundaries between music, visual art and everyday actions. The film also asks what was at stake politically and socially when art stepped out of the concert hall into the street and into daily life. Before the screening in the film club of the Transparent Sound New Music Festival, Orsolya Kaincz, the curator of the evening, will give an introductory lecture.The language of the film: English.With the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

This six-concert series for solo cello is based around Johann Sebastian Bach's suites. Alongside the well-known cello suites, Tamás Zétényi will also perform the French suites, originally for keyboard, which he and composer Marcell Dargay arranged for cello together. In addition to exploring the multifaceted suites, the cellist also aims to place the inexhaustible richness of Bach’s style in a wider context. The performance of the cello suites will be preceded by one piece from Domenico Gabrielli's Ricercar series, which, dating from 1689, are among the earliest examples of solo cello works and offer a glimpse into the virtuoso Italian music of the generation before Bach. Before the French suites, we hear a composition by the great masters of the French Baroque: Sainte-Colombe the Elder and Sainte-Colombe the Younger, François Couperin or Marin Marais (originally written for viola da gamba and continuo or harpsichord). The one-hour programme is rounded off by the Caprices of Joseph Marie Clément Dall'Abaco, working one generation after Bach. The style of the Caprices, written around 1770, represents a transition between Baroque and Classical, approaching the world of Empfindsamkeit, hallmarked by the name of Bach’s most successful son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Yet their emotional, melancholic and sensitive tone can be seen as a direct successor to Bach's suites.

The music of Dsilton consists of energetic arrangements in microtonal tunings with modulating rhythms. At Dsiltons current program, cycles of Georg Vogel & David Dornig are interlocked. Concerning the techniques of composition and the frames for improvisation all pieces share together complex grooves and the extended tonality of 31-tone tuning. The repertoire shows a range from enharmonically entangled improvisation forms, 31-tone serial compositions to arrangements of processed field recordings. This enharmonic microtonal journey is played on special instruments: newly built 31-tone keyboards called Clavitone, drumset and a new eight string electric guitar with 31 frets per octave. With the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

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. A chatty trilogy instantaneously finding the sonorous meanings of what, where and when, 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. In the days of the concert, they are recording a new album for BMC Records.    

Following his trio, which has been performing since 2019, guitarist Péter Cseh has formed a new band, which will make its debut on the Day of Hungarian Culture. True to its name, the HIDAK (Bridges) Trio strives to connect different points: the members of the band with each other, the performer with the listener, and tradition with innovation. The band's sound covers a wide range, and almost anything can serve as inspiration for its members, so their repertoire includes the rich harmonies of modern jazz, the rhythmic rattle familiar from minimalist music, and slowly flowing streams of sound. All three members contribute to the program as composers, so roles within the band can be exchanged – thanks to the bridges that have been built.  

In the frame of  Transparent Sound New Music Festival, the concert focuses on three works by the 90-year-old Helmut Lachenmann: Toccatina for solo violin, Pression for solo cello, and Streichtrio. The works will be performed by members of the Korossy Quartet, while composer Márton Illés gives an interactive talk about the pieces. Pression, a work for solo cello, was composed between 1969 and 1970. The nine-minute composition, notated graphically, incorporates a wide range of new playing techniques. As the title suggests, the composer shapes the sound world of the piece through various types and intensities of contact (“pressure”) between the instrument and the bow, using tapping, stroking, striking, and rubbing.Toccatina, composed in 1986, was originally written as an exercise for the book "Studien zum Spielen Neuer Musik für Violine", edited by Igor Ozim. This delicate, fragile, and introverted concert étude abounds in numerous unconventional technical playing modes. It has since become very popular and is now performed at the most prestigious venues around the world. Reflecting on his string trio written in 1965, Lachenmann states: “By the time I was composing this work at the latest, I had become aware that the power of musical expression arises solely from crossing boundaries and transforming the materials used in the piece. In the string trio this happened in a rudimentary form. My later compositional work developed its visions from this point of departure.”With the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

The European Orchestra Academy is a joint initiative between the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) and the European Union Youth Orchestra, founded under the visionary guidance of Iván Fischer. This prestigious program provides talented young musicians from around Europe with invaluable orchestral experience alongside the BFO, while also offering them the opportunity to perform as chamber ensembles across numerous European countries. Participants refine their artistry through masterclasses led by renowned professors, ensuring they are exceptionally well-prepared for chamber music performances on the international stage.

In Hungary, the combination of new music and electric guitar may still seem surprising, although over the past decade the instrument has become a favorite among composers. Samuel Toro Pérez, who is also a composer, arrives in Budapest with a highly colorful and sensitive solo program: performing alone on stage, accompanying the sound of the electric guitar at times with electronics. The program explores the borderlands of contemporary sound worlds, ambient, noise, and delicate textures. Samuel is a Vienna-based guitarist and composer working at the intersection of contemporary music and experimental electronics, and a regular performer at international festivals.With the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

The Kristóf Bacsó Triad's music blends elements of jazz and contemporary music with an Eastern European feeling; in addition to carefully composed sections, improvisations also play an important role. Their latest album features the bandleader’s songs, whose magic lies in the multitude of unique melodies, sensitive harmonization, and individual forms, as well as the high level of (ensemble) playing. However, their greatest virtue is perhaps the accessibility that they are able to preserve and even bring to the fore despite all musical sophistication. Let It Go not only expresses deeply human feelings and experiences through its central theme – grasped and missed opportunities, taking responsibility for decisions or letting them go, the limits and unlimitedness of freedom in music –, but also gives space to personal statements such as Soulbird, an homage to Mátyás Szandai. 

Serendipity is not only the closest meanings of Nasip Kısmet, but also the best way to describe this international band’s authentic, multi-genre music: an ancient folk melody turns into a psychedelic outburst by a sudden chord progression, then eases into a mild jazz-fusion breeze by a touch of masterful musicianship. Nasip Kısmet was founded in Budapest in 2019 by Turkish musician Arif Erdem Ocak, who is also the founder and guitarist of the famous Turkish band Seksendört. The band consists of high-caliber jazz musicians from the Hungarian jazz scene, such as Daniel Mester (saxophone & clarinet), David Szegő (drums) and Marton Eged (bass guitar); and Turkish folk/rock musicians, siblings Arif Erdem (guitar & vocals) and Derya Ocak (vocals). Nasip Kısmet plays Turkish psychedelic-folk/jazz/fusion genres and continues to grow its audience throughout Europe.

In music history narratives or concert programs, Chopin and Mendelssohn are rarely put side by side. This is somewhat understandable, since although they were contemporaries, met several times and greatly admired each other (Mendelssohn once called Chopin a "perfect musician"), their musical styles and worldviews were quite different. If they are connected at all, it is primarily through their ties to music history: through Bach and Mozart. The gravitational center of Gábor Csalog's concert will be Chopin's Scherzo in E major, accompanied by Mendelssohn's songs without words: works that at first glance – and according to their function – appear to be mere salon pieces, but are in fact compositions of just as high a caliber as any of Mendelssohn's or Chopin's large-scale works. In the first half of the evening, during a conversation with Gergely Fazekas, the question of where the boundary lies between salon music and high art will certainly be raised, as well as whether a scherzo can be considered a "joke" in the original sense of the word if Chopin is the composer. The language of the discussion is Hungarian. Further concerts in this series:23 November 2025 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Mahler and Schubert22 March 2026 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Schumann and Brahms17 May 2026 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Kurtág and the Music History

Tri-City Jazz Collective is an experimental formation including jazz musicians from three big cities, Vienna, Berlin and Budapest, dedicated to a unique way of blending modern original compositions and jazz standards, spiced with a pinch of groove music. Their repertoire ranges on a wide scale of genres from swing through straight-eighth tunes to modern ballads. The quintet initiated by jazz guitarist, singer-songwriter Dávid Lamm features the internationally renowned vibraphonist-marimbist, composer, and jazz educator David Friedman, bassist Stefan Pista Bartus, drummer Valentin Duit, and guest artist Zeek, one of the best MCs and slam poets of the Hungarian music scene.

The poems in the lyrics contribute to the innovative world of Ötödik Évszak (Fifth Season), as do the use of both Hungarian and French, the immersion in the values of folk music that are not commonly known, the creative understanding of folk culture and the joy of chamber music. Their music playfully combines an urban environment and respect for tradition, and runs the gamut of emotions: their compositions alternate between dynamic, virtuosic, melancholic and life-affirming. The core of their songs is the folk music of the Carpathian Basin, which is expanding into the world of improvisation. Sometimes featuring guest musicians, the band sees traditional folk music as a legacy of European culture, in which the creation as an intellectual heritage is also a community's contemporary imprint. Formed in 2018, the band has enjoyed great professional success, in 2020, they represented Hungary on the stage of the Womex Regional Showcase. The members are prominent representatives of the Hungarian music scene, who have already demonstrated their love of music in numerous productions (Buda Folk Band, Lajkó Félix, Dresch String Quartet, Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, Ifjú Szívek String Quartet or Ephemere).  

David Helbock, a leading figure in Austrian jazz, delights audiences worldwide with his projects at festivals on all continents. His virtuosity and creativity have earned him numerous awards, including several prizes at the world's largest Jazz Piano Solo Competition in Montreux (CH), as well as the “Outstanding Artist Award” from the Austrian federal government. In his latest project, Helbock has been able to win the versatile electric bassist and cellist Julia Hofer from Vienna as his duo partner. Hofer has so far mainly made a name for herself in the pop world, whether through tours with the No Angels or appearances in German TV shows like those hosted by Stefan Raab. In addition to her impressive online presence on YouTube, she is now dedicating herself more intensively to jazz together with David Helbock. In autumn 2025, the duo released a new album on the internationally renowned label ACT Music. Faces of Night was immediately selected by The Times (UK) as one of the best jazz albums of 2025. The album promises a fascinating mix of quiet, dreamy original compositions and groovy jazz pieces that bear the unmistakable style of Helbock and Hofer, and it is also complemented by exciting guest musicians. With inventive effects, rhythmic percussion elements in the grand piano, and the dynamic switch between cello and electric bass, this evening promises an extraordinary sound experience and a musical journey full of emotions and innovations. This concert is a very rare opportunity to experience the duo live with all three guests from the album. Singer Veronika Harcsa is a steady guest at BMC. Lorenz Raab is the Solotrumpeter at Volksoper Vienna but also one of Austria’s best jazz trumpet players, while Mahan Mirarab brings a lot of new interesting colors to the duo with his special double neck Persian guitar.  

The concert will feature significant works from the contemporary cello repertoire. Brian Ferneyhough led the "new complexity" movement while Jonathan Harvey is known for his music inspired by Buddhist perspectives. Works by Mark Andre and Brice Pauset, which explore noise and timbre, will be performed alongside the serialist composition of Roger Sessions. Johannes Schütt's new piece for fixed media, inspired by Schubert, will also be featured. Lucas Fels will also premiere two works by Macarena Rosmanich and Dániel Péter Biró, the latter integrating Jewish numerology and microtonality. Lucas Fels is one of the premiere interpreters of contemporary music. He was a founding member of Ensemble Recherche, joining the Arditti Quartet in 2006. He has been a Darmstadt summer course lecturer for 20 years and is Professor for Contemporary Music at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.With the friendly support of Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

With their outside-of-genres, song-centric compositions, Subtones has become a favourite concert band on the Hungarian jazz-pop scene in just a few years. In order to connect even more directly with the Hungarian audience, their award-winning album Lángolj features only Hungarian-language songs with lyrics written by Mátyás Szepesi and Péter Závada. Subtones, founded in 2019 by trumpeter Gábor Subicz, is one of Hungary's most exciting supergroups. The arrival of vocalists Vera Jónás and Flóra Kiss has pushed the band towards vocal forms. "Right from the beginning, when this line-up was born, it became clear to me that I wasn't driven by a desire to communicate. With Subtones, I want to make music that I enjoy listening to. People often ask whether Subtones plays jazz or something else. For me, jazz is a mindset: you have to leave as many possibilities open as possible, while excluding playing music just out of habit. I love it when I don't know what other people are going to play, and those are my favourite moments when we kick the chair out from under us. There are so many different elements to our music, we play on quite a variety of stages, from TV studios to jazz clubs to festivals, and I feel that our music is relevant everywhere. With Hungarian lyrics we want to get closer to the audience. I feel that in a local context, English lyrics are a bit of a hiding, a mask. In our own mother tongue, the effect is much more instinctive, the song flies directly into the listener's ears", says Gábor Subicz, band leader and mastermind behind Subtones.  

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In this concert, piano and chamber music works by Béla Bartók, Jenő Takács, Werner Schulze, and Zsolt Keresztury-Albert will be performed, harmonizing tradition and modernity, presented by the renowned Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra together with outstanding soloists. The figure of Franz Liszt stands symbolically for the cultural bond that unites Austria and Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian composer Jenő Takács was both a friend and a creative partner of Bartók, while also serving as mentor to Austrian composer Werner Schulze. The oeuvre of Zsolt Keresztury-Albert integrates organically into the Hungarian compositional tradition founded by Bartók (and Kodály), which draws its inspiration from authentic folk music material. Thus, on this evening, the works of the four creators come together in a shared intellectual space, marked by “cosmopolitan openness” and respect for tradition.

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The legendary Hungarian ensemble 180 Group, if you will, was formed around the Szemző Quartet in 1979, as indicated by the name Aquatic Quartet. The evening's program features two works: a joint composition, Tunnel, inspired by Franz Kafka's short story Eisenbahnreisende, and a cinema concert based on Szemző's research on the Danube, whose 8 mm film footage and text are the result of a joint work with Alexander Krestovský, and which was presented two years ago, in a different concept, but also as part of the Transparent Sound New Music Festival. The Aquatic Quartet will make its debut in Hungary on this evening. The band came together in the fall of 2023 at the commission of the Tranzit House in Cluj-Napoca, under the direction of Szemző and Fluidian. Similar to their concerts there, composer Emil Gherasim Fluidian's incomparable soundscapes created with guitar and electronics are accompanied by László Gőz on bass trumpet, trombone and other wind instruments. Alexander Krestovský from Prague handles the textual aspects of the pieces, while Tibor Szemző plays various flutes and also serves as the narrator of Tunnel. The concert will also serve as the release of the new issue of the Hungarian newspaper entitled Új Forrás, which focuses on Szemző's work. The language of this presentation is Hungarian. With the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

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Franz Schubert: String Quartet Movement in c Minor („Quartettsatz”), D 703 – in a string orchestra performanceFranz Schubert: „Arpeggione” Sonata in a Minor, D 821 – transcription for cello and string orchestraEdvard Grieg: Holberg Suite, op. 40

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A celebration of music and posters. Through visual paraphrases of Kurtág's music, we aim to present the coexistence of poster art and music. Visual impressions inspired by the master's musical world, creating posters using collage techniques and gestural painting tools. The workshop is open to anyone interested, no prior training is required, just the joy of creating.  Workshop led by: Andrej Tóth, graphic artist

A celebration of music and posters. This exhibition is the result of two decades of acquaintance with and impressions of the world of Kurtág. The master composer's methods (the Games series), his unpublished gesture drawings and sketches, his musical notation using a unique visual sign system, and Andrej Tóth's personal connection inspired the poster designs created through experimentation with cyanotype and collage techniques and gestural painting. György Kurtág's sketches with their dynamic lines will also be on display.

The more we immerse ourselves in György Kurtág's music, and the more this music moves us, the clearer it becomes that – as pianist Gábor Csalog puts it – “the old and the new intertwine, blurring the boundaries between the past and the present.” Thus, on the evening with cellist Miklós Perényi and pianists András Kemenes and Gábor Csalog, it is not the music of Bach and Kurtág, Schubert and Kurtág, or Mozart and Kurtág that is heard, but “pure” music, free from all stylistic and genre constraints, which draws both performer and listener into its spell. It is uplifting to realise that, in Csalog's words, as Kurtág's contemporaries, “we were and still are witnesses to the continuity of music history.” It is often said that Kurtág's art is in lively dialogue with tradition, but it may simply be that the questions that can be raised and answered in music have not changed since Bach or Schubert. According to András Kemenes, only those who deeply understand Mozart “can truly understand Kurtág. That is why I cannot separate them from each other. These are inseparable qualities.” For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

Benjamin Appl recorded songs by Schubert, Brahms, and Kurtág on his album Lines of Life, released in 2025. On the album, the composers and their works are closely intertwined in the truest sense. Listeners will not only marvel at how Kurtág's music keeps the world of 19th-century German songs alive in various ways, but will also notice that at times Schubert or Brahms seem to continue or develop phrases, motifs, or ideas from Kurtág. The critic of Le Monde, for example, did not hesitate to state that the material on Lines of Life can be considered Kurtág's work from the first note to the last. In the first half of the concert, Benjamin Appl performs a partially reworked version of this uniquely effective series, while in the second half he sings Schumann's incredibly complex song cycle, Dichterliebe, accompanied by pianist Dániel Villányi. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

In June 2025, BBC Music Magazine selected Pierre-Laurent Aimard's album as its Recording of the Month. The album features selections from György Kurtág's cycle Játékok (Games), including the then-unreleased 11th volume. According to a critic in The Guardian, “Játékok is one of the most significant works of the past half-century, and Aimard is the perfect guide to it.” On the occasion of György Kurtág's 90th birthday, English cellist Steven Isserlis said: “György Kurtág is music itself. He slowly, irresistibly flows from the depths of his being, bursting to the surface with an exceptional, all-encompassing intensity. I have never met a musician in my life for whom every single note was so important; whether it is his own work or a piece by one of the great composers he admires, for him every single note carries a whole world of meanings, events and intense emotions.” Pianist Dénes Várjon made a similar statement: “With Kurtág, even a single note is about the whole. In fact, if you study with him for many years, it becomes clear that there is much more to that particular note. A chain of connections emerges from a single note, leading to important insights into the composer’s entire oeuvre.” For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

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15.00–16.00 Launch of Volume 11 of Játékok (Games), "K.M. hangjegy könyvetskéje" (K.M.’s Music Booklet), and the kurtag.hu websiteContributors: Tünde Mózes-Szitha, music historian, director of UMB Editio Musica Budapest, and musicologist Gergely Fazekas.   16.00–17.30 Plenary lectures: Simone Hohmaier (D): A-Z. The alphabet of Kurtág's musical mother tongue between musical history and private cosmos. (With a gentle emphasis on the letter B.) Paul Griffiths (UK): Kurtág's Lichtenberg Karol Berger (USA): What is the game that is supposed to end in Endgame?   Participation in the event is free, but prior registration is required. The sheet music and website presentation will be in Hungarian, the plenary lectures will be in English, with simultaneous interpretation provided.   Two new Kurtág scores and a website collecting information about Kurtág's oeuvre will be launched, and a German, a British, and an American musicologist will give a lecture on Kurtág aimed at the general public on the day after his 100th birthday at the BMC Concert Hall. UMP Editio Musica Budapest, which has published Kurtág's music for more than seventy years, will release the new volume of the Játékok (Games) series – growing since 1973—to mark the anniversary. This volume contains pieces written since 2012 and some newly discovered older piano works. The publisher will also issue a facsimile edition of K. M. hangjegy könyvetskéje ('K. M.'s Music Booklet'). This latter work is perhaps the most personal in Kurtág's output, containing piano pieces intended for or written specifically for Márta from 1973 onward. The scores will be presented by Tünde Mózes-Szitha, music historian, director of Editio Musica Budapest. Also in preparation for the 100th birthday is the kurtag.hu website and database, which will bring together the most important information about György Kurtág's oeuvre in one place. The website, which includes a list of works, discography, bibliography, interviews, early reviews, biography, and previously unpublished video recordings of Kurtág's pedagogical work, will be presented by musicologist Gergely Fazekas, leader of the professional team developing the site. The presentation of the scores and the website will be followed by three lectures on Kurtág’s music. Simone Hohmaier, a researcher at the Berlin Institute for Musicology, will highlight the music-historical connections in Kurtág's oeuvre, with particular emphasis on the most significant composers whose names begin with the letter B. British musicologist Paul Griffiths, a renowned expert on 20th-century music, will discuss the relationship between Kurtág and late 18th-century polymath Georg Lichtenberg in connection with Kurtág's new opera, which will be performed that evening at Müpa Budapest. Karol Berger, professor emeritus at Stanford University, will give a lecture on Kurtág's place in music history and his role in today's musical culture in connection with Kurtág's first opera, Endgame. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

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A full-day conference on the music, life, career and historical connections of György Kurtág, with the participation of Hungarian musicologists living both in Hungary and abroad. The language of the presentations will be Hungarian. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

As in Anton Webern's work, the short piece, short movement, or musical miniature in György Kurtág's oeuvre is not the result of any form of reduction. It is well known that, for neither composer, brevity refers to the duration of musical processes, but rather to the density of musical communication. The large-scale cycles composed of these dense communications – from The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza to Kafka Fragments and beyond – are particularly characteristic of Kurtág's output. Some of these cycles present a serious yet ironic panorama of human existence (such as S.K. Remembrance Noise), while others focus on the tragedy of this existence (such as Attila József Fragments), or reveal the inexhaustible richness of musical expression without words (Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky). This rich and representative selection of Kurtág's chamber music is performed by a young generation of musicians wholly dedicated to the composer's art, who may be considered Kurtág's musical grandchildren. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

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A series of lectures in which practising musicians introduce the audience to the art of György Kurtág; the day will conclude with a roundtable discussion featuring composers two generations younger than Kurtág. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

“What does Ligeti mean to me?” asks Kurtág. “The sense that there is something higher, something more perfect than I can even imagine, that there are connections in art, science, and the universe that he can account for, and here the sentence breaks off.” If the works are truly capable of interacting with each other, if this dialogue can faithfully reflect the private conversation between the two composers, then the programme compiled from the compositions of György Kurtág and György Ligeti can give us a taste of how Ligeti guided Kurtág throughout his life, or, as Kurtág put it, how “I followed him, sometimes directly, sometimes with a delay of a few years or even decades. Yet – I call this my ‘Imitatio Christi’ syndrome – the early years of our friendship were not characterised solely by his intellectual guidance. Without directly influencing me, his example shaped my tastes and even the direction of my private life.” The concert will feature solo string works, songs, piano pieces, and a trio from each composer, all key works in the Kurtág and Ligeti oeuvre. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

Baroque violinist Maya Homburger and her composer-double bassist husband Barry Guy regularly perform Kurtág compositions in their unique concerts, which span various periods and styles of music history. Their album Acanthis, recorded with Swiss percussionist Lucas Niggli, features medieval music as well as early Baroque and jazz-inspired contemporary works. One German critic described Acanthis as “a lively floating between free improvisation, new and old music. It is a joint performance full of tension and surprises, embellished with delicate, lyrical moments. It is impressive how harmoniously the violin and double bass breathe together; few are capable of such a thing.” However, not only the first half of the concert will be characterised by “lively floating” and “music-making together full of surprises.” In the second half, the Kelemen Quartet will perform string quartets by Beethoven and Bartók, conveying the experience of György Kurtág's high-voltage master classes, which they attended for more than 50 hours in the past couple of years. For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

Violinist and conductor Peter Rundel is a welcome guest with leading European symphony orchestras. He is equally comfortable in a range of styles and brings exceptional sensitivity to even the most complex musical works. He is an active opera conductor and has collaborated with theatre artists such as Peter Konwitschny, Calixto Bieito, Philippe Arlaud, Peter Mussbach, Heiner Goebbels, and Willy Decker. Peter Rundel was a violinist with Ensemble Modern for over a decade and studied conducting under the mentorship of Michael Gielen and Péter Eötvös. As a guest of the UMZE Chamber Ensemble, he can apply his dramatic imagination in Four Poems by Anna Akhmatova and his analytical thoroughness in Karlheinz Stockhausen's compositions. The concert will also feature a rarely performed piece, Luigi Nono's work for voice, wind instruments, and electronics (Omaggio à György Kurtág), written between 1983 and 1986. With this composition, the Italian master responded to Kurtág's choral work Omaggio a Luigi Nono. However, it is likely that there is more behind this gesture, as Nono himself said: “Kurtág's music convinced me that I had to find new ways to bring sounds to life.” For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

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Founded in 1946, the SWR Vokalensemble (Stuttgart Radio Choir) is a leading interpreter of 20th- and 21st-century choral music. In recent decades, it has premiered more than 250 new choral works, including compositions by Maurizio Kagel, Heinz Holliger, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Wolfgang Rihm, among others. In 2006, it recorded three large-scale choral compositions by György Kurtág (Omaggio à Luigi Nono; 8 Choruses on Poems by Dezső Tandori; Songs of Despair and Sorrow) with its then principal conductor, Marcus Creed. The current director, Yuval Weinberg, is equally committed to contemporary choral music, and the SWR Vokalensemble is perhaps the only choir in the world currently capable of performing one of the key works in Kurtág's oeuvre, Songs of Despair and Sorrow. Musicologist Márta Papp wrote about the piece: “In it and through it, it is not a lonely person who shares his feelings and visions with the listener, as in the great vocal series of the past, but a multitude of singing voices, a real crowd that speaks, shouts, whispers and, above all, sings magically to the listener: sometimes making intimate, mysterious communications with each other, sometimes storming through a single word or fragment of a sentence with the many, often 16–18 voices of the two choirs.” For the full festival programme and ticket purchases, visit: 100.kurtag.hu

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“All week long I sat at the piano, composing and writing and laughing and crying, all at once.” Robert Schumann wrote these words in March 1839 in a letter to his beloved Clara, and the work that gave her a glimpse into his creative process was published at the end of the year as a cycle entitled Humoreske. It is rarely played by pianists, and critics are divided in their opinions: some consider it a dead end in Schumann's oeuvre, while others regard it as an undeservedly neglected piece. What is certain is that it is extremely exciting music, like everything that came from Schumann's hands, so it is worth talking about it and, above all, listening to it. Gábor Csalog and Gergely Fazekas's dialogue will also draw on Brahms's works alongside Schumann's, to see how the two composers are connected beyond the figure of Clara, and how the simultaneous state of crying and laughing can be represented in music. Not only Schumann, but Brahms was also a great master of this.The language of the discussion is Hungarian. Further concerts in this series:23 November 2025 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Mahler and Schubert25 January 2026 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Chopin and Mendelssohn17 May 2026 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Kurtág and the Music History  

This six-concert series for solo cello is based around Johann Sebastian Bach's suites. Alongside the well-known cello suites, Tamás Zétényi will also perform the French suites, originally for keyboard, which he and composer Marcell Dargay arranged for cello together. In addition to exploring the multifaceted suites, the cellist also aims to place the inexhaustible richness of Bach’s style in a wider context. The performance of the cello suites will be preceded by one piece from Domenico Gabrielli's Ricercar series, which, dating from 1689, are among the earliest examples of solo cello works and offer a glimpse into the virtuoso Italian music of the generation before Bach. Before the French suites, we hear a composition by the great masters of the French Baroque: Sainte-Colombe the Elder and Sainte-Colombe the Younger, François Couperin or Marin Marais (originally written for viola da gamba and continuo or harpsichord). The one-hour programme is rounded off by the Caprices of Joseph Marie Clément Dall'Abaco, working one generation after Bach. The style of the Caprices, written around 1770, represents a transition between Baroque and Classical, approaching the world of Empfindsamkeit, hallmarked by the name of Bach’s most successful son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Yet their emotional, melancholic and sensitive tone can be seen as a direct successor to Bach's suites.

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A fresh, elemental energy surges from this album, whose introduction itself is legendary: "We have something special down here in Birdland this evening," announces Pee Wee Marquette into the microphone. And it truly was something very special. This very announcement was famously sampled by US3 on their track "Cantaloop". Art Blakey was at least as fantastic a bandleader as he was a drummer, although his stick work was groundbreaking in its own right, with his storm-raising solos built on enormous crescendos. Pianist Horace Silver was still a member of the Blakey Quintet here, though they would later co-found the legendary Jazz Messengers. The sonic ideal strongly associated with Blue Note was primarily born through Blakey and his band, becoming the basic formula for jazz worldwide for decades, and remains just as fresh today as it was in 1953.

The internationally acclaimed, London-based pianist Simone Tavoni presents a recital featuring music by Erik Satie, the French master of refined eccentricity and delicate lyricism, and Manuel de Falla, whose works burst with the color and passion of his native Spain. These strongly contrasting voices create a fascinating musical juxtaposition.The evening culminates with Frédéric Chopin’s monumental Piano Sonata No. 3, a work of symphonic scope and emotional depth, bringing this captivating recital to a powerful close.

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György Kurtág is often placed alongside avant-garde composers of the Second World War – Boulez, Stockhausen, Ligeti – and although in many respects he truly belongs among them, in terms of his connection to music history, Kurtág can be considered the odd one out in this company. For him, the search for novelty was never possible without a close connection to the classical tradition. His early viola concerto begins with the iconic timpani strokes of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and there is no piece of his that does not reveal the presence of some important composer from the past thousand years. In addition to Kurtág's works, Gábor Csalog's concert will also feature classical pieces, making it clear that these connections are sometimes so concrete that Kurtág's musical universe is populated by fragments of music history like stars in the night sky. The discussion in the first half of the evening will not only focus on György Kurtág's relationship with music history, but also on a number of more general issues, as Gábor Csalog has been playing Kurtág for half a century and has been part of the hundred-year-old Kurtág's life and work for fifty years.The language of the discussion is Hungarian. Further concerts in this series:23 November 2025 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Mahler and Schubert25 January 2026 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Chopin and Mendelssohn22 March 2026 6 PM – Gábor Csalog Sundays – Dialogues with (the) Music | Schumann and Brahms