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 We have prepared the fourth festival of this grand musical celebration of Hungarians and neighboring peoples living in the Carpathian Basin with great pleasure.
Music can express everything that cannot be told in words. As Debussy put it, “Music is the only universal language that anyone, anywhere can understand.”
Music expresses emotions without words; in the world of sounds it creates happiness and peace, connecting us not only musically, but also on a deep human level. It can resolve conflicts in harmony and give support and encouragement, which is especially important in today’s world full of fears and uncertainties.
We believe in the power of music, we believe that music can penetrate walls that at first seem impenetrable, bringing people, communities, and cultures closer together.
The promotion of cooperation among musicians living in the Carpathian Basin and the discovery and support of young talent are important missions of the festival. This will be apparent again this year in concerts across national borders, as well as in master classes, conferences, and an international music competition.
The first program of the festival is a conference on musicology entitled “Encounter with Abbé Liszt” featuring a roundtable discussion and a guided tour of Ferenc Liszt’s former residence. This event will be followed by a concert focusing on the composer’s sacred works. This year, for the second time, we are organizing the Carpathian Basin International Piano Competition at the Saint Stephen Concert Hall, in which young pianists between the ages of 10 and 20 will compete.
On November 6, a truly special Mozart concert will take place in the Grand Hall of the Academy of Music, in memory of Dr. István Bajkai, the festival’s visionary and one of its founders. Among other works, the concert will feature the rarely heard Concerto in F major for three pianos, performed by Apolka Bonnyai from Hungary, the Transylvanian pianist Boldizsár Csíky Jr. and the Croatian-Hungarian pianist Danijel Detoni, expressing the unity and cooperation of the peoples of the Carpathian Basin.
Young talents can look forward to an interactive concert in Szabadka (Subotica, Serbia) while the closing concert will feature intimate chamber music in the Mirror Hall of the Primate’s Palace in Pozsony (Bratislava, Slovakia).
We are proud that such renowned scholars and artists have accepted our invitation as music historians Mária Eckhardt, Zsuzsanna Domokos, Ágnes Watzatka, and Emőke Solymosi Tari, opera singers Veronika Geszthy, Krisztián Cser, Atala Schöck, Katalin Szutrély, Botond Pál, pianists János Balázs, Boldizsár Csíky Jr., Danijel Detoni, Peter Caelen, Gábor Eckhardt, Péter Józsa, and Andrea Várnagy, and Kálmán Záborszky conductor.
We are confident that our festival will not only create a tradition, but also bring hope for a better world in the Carpathian Basin, serve the coexistence of the Hungarian people and the peoples of the Carpathian Basin, promote mutual understanding, and bring joy and hope to us all.
Bonnyai Apolka
pianist
founder and artistic
manager of the festival
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