Gábor Gadó and Veronika Harcsa are two artists known primarily as jazz musicians, yet their work is increasingly shifting towards classical, early and contemporary music. Their musical encounter is already documented in two albums for BMC Records: Shekhinah (2023) presented Gadó’s most recent compositions with texts by Veronika Harcsa, while The Language of Flowers (2024) revived his pieces from more than two decades ago, originally written to texts by Eszter Molnár and for Gábor Winand. Their latest album, Yūgen, to be released in the autumn of 2026, continues to explore the mysterious, elusive beauty hidden behind musical forms and sounds – we can hear the album’s material for the first time at this concert.  

The group, founded in 2002, developed a special sound for its composed and improvised chamber music by combining instruments, rather uncommon in jazz, like the Bulgarian gadulka, or Dániel Váczi's own brainchild, the glissotar, with the more traditional setting of guitar, saxophone, double bass and drums. The name Ektar comes from the Indian word 'ek-tar' which means one string. Indeed, the five musicians play and improvise in such harmony as if they were all playing on a single instrument.

“We move on a laid-back basis, but we easily slip into hip-hop, jazz, and all kinds of genre madness that catches our attention. We experiment, mix, and break things down – we have no rules, just groove and energy”, says the recently formed Horror Monkeyz quartet, which performs in public for the first time in May 2026. The group is comprised of outstanding musicians from the young and middle generations of Hungarian jazz: Sándor Soso Lakatos, Árpád Oláh Tzumo, Benedek Kis, and Gábor Rigó, who, in this new band, aim to create an intense, dynamic soundscape by blending jazz, fusion, and contemporary music.

The Chris Devil Trio was formed in 2011 by first-year jazz students at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. The trio consists of three distinct musical personalities who create a unified and coherent, yet diverse sound. They gave their first concert under the name Sörpa Trio, an acronym formed from the members’ names. The following year, they chose a new name: the English translation of the bandleader’s name. The close-knit trio is occasionally joined by guests, they have performed alongside János Ávéd, Mihály Borbély, Bálint Gyémánt, Krisztián Oláh, and Viktor Tóth, among others. Their repertoire consists primarily of their own compositions. Just as the band’s name is built on opposites, sharp contrasts often appear in their musical world as well: moods, styles, and musical characters clash with one another. At this concert, they will present their album Sounds of Devil live, whose concept is also built on this duality – the successive tracks are defined by the two extremes of the emotional spectrum: explosive tension and a deep sense of peace.

The music of the Double Weisz Quartet is built on an instinctive trust that stems from a childhood bond. The group was brought to life by the vision of János Weisz, while Gábor Weisz oversees the musical processes and guides them toward realization. In this environment, Ádám Sárdi’s pinpoint-precise bass lines and Dávid Szegő’s dense, dynamic drumming provide the stability upon which the two brothers can freely build. During their concerts, composed themes and free improvisations are inseparable: the freshness of the improvised sections influences the performance of the structured passages, keeping the music in constant motion. The quartet’s trademark is its layered, intertwining rhythms and the piano’s diverse harmonic palette. Their sound boldly ventures between extremes: from thought-provoking, abstract elements of contemporary music to unexpected, sometimes ironic musical humor, their language encompasses a wide range of tools. 

At this year’s Babos Echo concert, marking the 77th anniversary of his birth, Gyula Babos’s grand guitar will be played by István Gyárfás on the Opus stage. Each year in the “Babos Echo” concert series, a different artist plays the instrument as a tribute to Gyula Babos’s musical legacy. “The grand guitar is, to be precise, a Gibson Super 400 model, which we can confidently call the king (or queen?) of jazz guitars. My main instrument is also such a guitar, though from a later year. So when Gyula Babos and I were playing as a duo at the IF Café, we didn’t have to think long about the name: Super 800. I would also like to pay tribute to this duo – which was a great personal and musical experience for me – at the concert, with the contribution of excellent fellow musicians,” said István Gyárfás.

The album Körbezár egy hang is the third joint release by S ï n t h ï a and Máté Möntör, this time recorded in a quartet lineup featuring Áron Nyirő (drums) and Ábel Dénes (double bass). The Hungarian-language compositions are imprints of personal experiences, memories, and dreams: at times evoking the subtle vibrations of reality, at others the sounds of a fairytale-like inner world. The duo’s earlier, more intimate soundscape is now replaced by richer textures, more dynamic instrumentation, and freer musical communication – while preserving the sensitivity and sincerity characteristic of the group.  

“Have you ever felt that our life is just an intermezzo? We spend most of our time trying to achieve our goals and desires but on the way towards the destination, there are several stations. These stations are connected by intermezzos before we know how, when, why and with whom we will travel on. Can it be the time when we truly live? While standing at the crossroads, we have a chance to contemplate. To live the very moment. The end of the day always includes the possibility of the following day – just like Tuesday is hidden in Monday, then Wednesday in Tuesday… How to go on? The only thing we know is that there will never be two Wednesdays which are the same. Problems change but the journey doesn’t: forward! We just try to lead Monday into Tuesday, and so on…”, says Dezső Oláh about his trio programme Intermezzo.

SamSaRa, the influential Hungarian world music ensemble of the turn of the millennium, takes the stage at Opus in a reimagined form. The group was founded in 2000 by two renowned and open-minded jazz musicians, Zoltán Lantos and Gábor Juhász, along with two outstanding Hungarian experts and players of Indian percussion instruments, Péter Szalai and Iván Nyusztay. Both Lantos and Nyusztay spent several years in India to master the techniques of playing classical Indian instruments and the authentic harmonic and rhythmic world of the local music. Drawing on his experiences, Lantos even had a special, resonant stringed violin custom-made for himself, which allows him to produce a rich sound that combines the advantages of two Indian instruments – the plucked sitar and the bowed sarangi – with those of the traditional violin. The trio plays Indo-jazz, that is, it brings elements and colors from Indian classical music into the world of jazz. This music has a spacious atmosphere, an airy quality, and an ancient fragrance, the influence of which is impossible to resist.   

Pianist and composer Károly Gáspár, who is celebrating his 50th birthday this year, is one of the best-known artists on the Hungarian jazz scene. To date, he has released six highly successful albums either with his trio or as a solo artist (The Outsider; Salvation; Philosophy; Tribute to Giants; Centuries Suite; Peace – Time), which mainly feature his own compositions alongside some jazz standards. Gáspár will now draw from his latest album, Peace – Time, while also performing unique arrangements of well-known jazz classics. Released in 2025, Peace – Time tastefully blends the stylistic elements and moods of classical music, jazz standards, and sophisticated pop songs under the theme of peace – both in the literal sense and as an inner state of mind –, also incorporating motifs from various folk music traditions. The album’s overall tone suggests a positive vision of the future, offering listeners a glimmer of hope even in difficult times.  

BMC commemorates Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, who passed away in 2022, with a concert each year. He maintained a two-decade working relationship with BMC, enriching the catalogue of BMC Records with a total of 10 albums, covering a wide variety of musical styles. In keeping with the diversity of his career, different musicians and formations will perform at the commemorative concerts, including those who have played with Szakcsi for many years, as well as who have had little or no opportunity to accompany him on his musical adventures, but they all share a common spirit of creation that is close to the artistic world of the legendary jazz pianist. This concert will be a freely improvised encounter between four generations and four distinct musical perspectives, as each musician represents a different style from the broad and colorful spectrum of jazz. Béla Szakcsi Lakatos had planned to give a concert with this same lineup before the pandemic, but it had to be postponed due to lockdowns – and this upcoming reschedule will also serve as a fitting tribute.

Migrantes is a musical project by pianist, composer, and producer Andrea Manzoni and oud player and composer Mauro Sigura exploring migration as a universal experience of transformation, encounter, and memory. Through a sonic language that crosses cultures and traditions, the project weaves together Mediterranean influences, jazz improvisation, and contemporary research, offering an artistic reflection on the cultural and human dynamics of our time. Since its creation, the project has developed a significant international trajectory, with concerts and presentations in various European and international contexts, evolving as a space for dialogue between different musical identities. The album, released in 2025, represents the synthesis of this artistic research, bringing together original compositions that explore the themes of journey and intercultural exchange.  

Salamon Tűzkő began playing the classical trumpet, but was soon captivated by jazz, the theory and practice of which he also learned from his father. His quintet won a special prize at the Müpa Jazz Showcase in 2022, and has been active on the Hungarian and international jazz scene ever since. For this concert, the young bandleader has gathered the country’s most sought-after and acclaimed musicians: Krisztián Csapó (trombone), Máté Balogh (saxophone), Béla Szakcsi Lakatos Jr. (piano), János Egri (double bass), and Elemér Balázs (drums), to pay tribute to the jazz tradition. Their program features iconic hard bop arrangements with three winds of compositions by Miles Davis and Art Blakey, as well as their original pieces.

At the end of 2025, the Fusio Group released its ninth album, New Visions, featuring Erika Kertész. The band, which has been active for over 30 years, was formed from the country’s leading artists. Their program consists of compositions by bandleader, drummer-composer Péter Szendőfi, whose musical world is closest to the fusion jazz genre and spans an extremely wide spectrum of moods and dynamics, ranging from lyrical, ballad-like, sensitive songs to energetic, virtuosic themes and grand instrumental solos. Since 2024, the band’s regular guest has been Erika Kertész, whose presence has given their work a new direction. The singer’s voice and performance style harmonize superbly with the instrumental pieces, while her collaboration also brings English-language lyrics to several previously instrumental tracks. As a result, the music on the new album is an intriguing and unique blend that promises an exceptionally diverse and varied soundscape.  

The instrumental dialogue of the two musician friends modulates a harmonious atmosphere into the carefree summer evening with mysterious sounds. The musical world of the Zádor – Kováts Duo puts usual jazz structures in a unique light; their compositions are rooted in modal jazz, but the familiar turns are sometimes interspersed with a Northern breeze or repetitive rhythms pulling into reverie, providing an excellent setting for the instrumental meditations of the two musicians. Their songs are typically the result of joint improvisation, in which composed sections are given as much space as spontaneous instrumental reflections almost reminiscent of free music. On this occasion, they play songs from their 2025 album 2, also performing hits from its predecessor, Thoughts from the Outskirts.

Hans Lüdemann and his French-German octet TransEuropeExpress have started their long-term project On the Edges in 2019. Their latest BMC Records album was just released in May, and the musicians are now taking the next step, presenting a grand finale live: the fifth and final new project of the cycle, also to be released on BMC Records, features Ukrainian singer Tamara Lukasheva and Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski as guests. Both guests will perform their own compositions, which will serve as the basis for improvisations by the outstanding soloists of the Franco-German ensemble. Hans Lüdemann creates the framework for this edition of On the Edges with new ideas, thereby integrating all five projects in the series into a grand pan-European musical mosaic. The On the Edges series visits five regions inside and outside the European Union. The members of the TransEuropeExpress Ensemble and invited guest artists draw creative energy from the interplay and fusion of their musical languages to paint a colorful, richly layered picture of European jazz, while making palpable the clash of musical elements and cultures. The previous, critically acclaimed four episodes of the series were released on BMC Records: Maghreb Express (2022) with Majid Bekkas, Polar Express (2023) featuring Kalle Kalima and Sofia Jernberg, Roman Express (2023) with Rita Marcotulli és Luciano Biondini, and, most lately, Oriental Express (2026) featuring Burcu Karadağ.  

Corner Dely’s new program, El Cor de les Cordes (The Heart of the Strings) features both recent and earlier compositions by Robi Dely, in which improvisation and the diverse treatment of the instruments take center stage; thus, the performance is shaped by the musicians’ creativity and the inspirational power of the moment. The title originates in the roughly 98 strings from which the sound ultimately springs – the essence is their vibration and, above all, their resonance, until perfect harmony is achieved. The band seeks this harmony in both the compositions and the improvisations, diving headfirst into the unknown. Corner Dely was founded by Robi Dely, who, since winning the 1995 Lausanne guitar competition, has performed in several of his own bands with prominent figures in the Hungarian music scene. Viktor Hárs joined him that same year, Gábor Cseke joined the band (by then already named Corner Dely) in 2008, and Zsolt Kovács has been a member of the group for a couple years.

József Balázs is one of the most recognized keyboard players of the middle generation in Hungary, who who is equally at home in the world of ethno-jazz and the mainstream of the genre. The pianist is the leader of the East Gipsy Band, which has been a smash hit at the legendary Blue Note in New York and the Detroit Jazz Festival. Since the formation of the Elemér Balázs Group, he has been the band's other main driving force alongside his brother, making his first recording debut with them (My New Way, 1997), and has been involved as an arranger and songwriter on all of the band's subsequent albums. He has played in the Kőszegi Quartet and has been a member of the László Dés Septet since 2003. In 2005 he joined the Contemporary Gregorian project together with his brother. He has performed with many world-famous musicians such as Randy Brecker, Erik Truffaz, Charlie Mariano, Pat Metheny, Robin Eubanks, Stéphane Belmondo, Bobby Watson and Steve Houben. In addition to his success in the jazz world, he is also recognised as an arranger and composer in other genres (pop, film music). 

Floating Beats is an open, fluid musical and visual platform where hip-hop rhythms, the freedom of jazz improvisation, atmospheric electronica, and acoustic instruments intertwine organically. Bence Dóczi (IMDB) uses a sampler, guitar, and effects to build deep, layered grooves and soundscapes, to which Dominik Kosztolánszki (Dom Beats) responds with singing, expressive melodies and psychedelic layers on saxophone, flute, synthesizers, and vocoders. Áron Horváth’s cimbalom adds a unique texture to the music with crystal-clear rhythms and rich resonances, while Pham Van Quan’s live visual alchemy shapes the entire concert experience in real time – sound and image thus forming an organic unity. The artistic goal of the project is to create a wide-ranging, floating, and pulsating soundscape where the boundaries between genres constantly dissolve: deep, hip-hop-inspired grooves alternate with moments of free improvisation, ambient atmospheres, and unexpected bursts of energy. This real-time creation is fueled by the strong chemistry between the musicians, their longtime shared musical history, and their constant, responsive interplay. The music thus becomes a living, dynamic entity, reimagined in a unique and unrepeatable way each time.

The group, which came together during jam sessions before classes, was formed in early 2024 under the leadership of Bálint Mravinac. They began their studies together at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and are currently students at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. The trio’s repertoire consists primarily of the members’ original compositions, which feature groove-oriented elements alongside those of modern jazz, rock, and free improvisation. The three young musicians attempt to push genre boundaries using the tools of intuitive musical self-expression. This time, their former teacher, Gábor Horváth Tojás, will also join the trio as a guest. 

The members of Symbiosis 5 met at the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest and started working together in 2020. They have developed a repertoire of original compositions combining elements of modal and contemporary jazz. The ensemble performed on a major stage for the first time in 2021 at the Babel-Laureate World Jazz Competition, where they earned third place. Subsequently, in 2022, the ensemble gained recognition at international competitions abroad, winning first place at the Getxo International Jazz Competition and Festival and the Sibiu International Jazz Competition. They continue to collect prizes, for example, in January 2023 they not only won the Judge’s Award and the Audience Award at the Müpa Jazz Showcase, but also two special prizes. The group returns to the stage of Opus with a guest soloist, this time joined by cimbalom player Áron Horváth.  

Over the past decade, Júlia Karosi has performed her distinctive vocal repertoire on stages both in Hungary and abroad. She approached jazz from a classical background, which has left its mark not only on her high-level vocal technique and expressive tone, but also on her musical world and repertoire. In addition to her own compositions, she frequently draws on folk songs and works by classical composers ranging from Bartók and Kodály to Gershwin – yet even in these arrangements, she is always drawn to the personal, to what she can convey about herself and our contemporary world using the tools of jazz. Dániel Szabó is an internationally renowned, versatile jazz pianist and composer. In recent years, he has collaborated with world-famous artists such as Peter Erskine, Chris Potter, and Joe LaBarbera. His album Visionary topped the charts in the American jazz magazine JAZZIZ, and in the spring of 2022, he was invited to perform the final movement of Chick Corea’s Jazz Piano Concerto posthumously, alongside John Patitucci and Dave Weckl. The duo’s repertoire is based on original compositions, classical music, and folk song arrangements. Their performances are characterized by sweeping improvisations and bold dynamic shifts. The concert is a meeting of the diverse worlds of two extraordinary artists, a true musical journey spanning genres and styles.

Pianist and composer János Egri Jr. has been an active participant in the Hungarian and international jazz scene since the age of 18; his playing is characterized by an open and natural blend of modern mainstream jazz, classical traditions, and influences from contemporary and popular music. His distinctive sound, technical confidence, and improvisational freedom have been praised by world-renowned artists such as Antonio Faraò and Tony Lakatos. With his trio, he achieved outstanding success at the Müpa Jazz Showcase, where he won four special awards, followed by a series of concerts including at London’s 606 Club and the International Leibnitz Jazz Festival. His partners are the lyrically sensitive János Egri on bass, who shapes grooves with a sure hand, and the virtuoso Dávid Hodek on drums, who plays with elemental energy, both of whom create an inspiring and dynamic rhythmic foundation for their collaborative music-making. Attila László, a Liszt Ferenc Prize-winning jazz guitarist, composer, and teacher, enriches the trio’s sound with new dimensions as a guest artist. The concert program features primarily the band members’ own compositions, with a focus on the energetic, groove-centered world of fusion jazz – a meeting of modern sound, free improvisation, and lively, interactive music-making.

The Zoltán Kalmár Quartet reinterprets outstanding compositions from the classic hard bop era: they present the works of Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and other jazz giants in new arrangements of their own. Their program also includes several original pieces that fit perfectly into this musical world. The quartet, which has been active for nearly ten years, is comprised of well-known figures in the Hungarian jazz scene: Balázs Raboczki (saxophone), Gábor Cseke (piano), Viktor Hárs (double bass), and Zoltán Kalmár (drums). At this concert, they will perform a selection from both their second album, Growing Roots, released last year, and their first album, Living Legacy.   

The Black Tea Group is an underground jazz band formed by students from the jazz department of the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest; the four young musicians have been playing together in this lineup for a couple of years. Their repertoire draws primarily on the early days of avant-garde jazz, which at that time was associated with a very different image than it is today: it was considered a vibrant, energetic genre. However, the quartet is also drawn to drum’n’bass grooves, folk music elements, or even free jazz influences – in addition to their own compositions, they will perform jazz standards and folk song arrangements at this concert.

Péter Ajtai (double bass), János Bujdosó (guitar), Ádám Czitrom (guitar) and Attila Gyárfás (drums) are veteran characters from the Hungarian alternative jazz, rock, fusion and experimental music scenes, known from bands such as Qiyan, Mingus! Mingus! Mingus!, Bujdosó Trio, Pop Ivan, Európa Kiadó, Balaton, Jazzékiel, Quelquefois, and others. The quartet was formed in 2023 originally as a one-time formation, by invitation of Inverted Spectrum Records for the release event of the compilation album The Underground Jazz Scene in Budapest Today, but the captivating result of this novel combination of performers led to a long tenure within the Budapest avantgarde music scene. The improv quartet’s unpredictable concerts move freely in between gentle fusion, aggressive punk jazz, noise, psychedelic atmospheres, and other, unidentifiable territories, like a surreal sequence of moving images, as the four musicians that come from differing backgrounds and inclinations push their skills, energy, and creativity to their outer limits, alternating between the common grounds they occasionally find and the uncommon grounds they keep collectively exploring.

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At the UMZE Ensemble’s season-opening concert, the bassoon’s 21st-century facets will be showcased with the help of guest soloist György Lakatos. Three mini-concertos, including two world premieres and a Hungarian premiere, will guide the audience through new ways of playing the bassoon and the exciting aesthetic results that emerge from them, all blended with music of contrasting character. The orchestra’s virtual international guest – with the Hungarian premiere of her work torsion: transparent variation – will be Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth, while Balázs Horváth’s piece POLY will serve as a tribute to György Ligeti, who passed away 20 years ago this year.

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Resignation is the keynote of the old Liszt’s compositional style. As a young pianist and then composer, he had travelled all across Europe and had created some of the most important works of the 19th century: he was universally celebrated. By this time, however, success had stopped to motivate him; he had withdrawn from public life and renounced glamour. He was searching for a way to express the deepest emotions with a single harmony, a single voice, the sigh of two notes. At their special concert, András Szalai and Balázs Fülei will perform some of the composer’s late piano pieces as cimbalom and piano arrangements. The sound of the cimbalom was particularly important to Liszt, who saw it as a symbol of his Hungarian identity, and its characteristic sound and performance mode inspired him to experiment with new ways of playing his own instrument, the piano. Playing material from their record, En Rêve – Liszt Inspirations, the two artists will give new meanings to the late pieces with their arrangements and transform the evening into a musical meditation.