It is with great sadness that we announce the death of an excellent former academic of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Erzsébet Hegyi, who passed away on 24 January.

There was a time when it appeared that the music of Ernő Dohnányi would be forever banished from the living music memory and the concert hall. Happily, this did not come to pass, thanks in part to the efforts of Ilona Prunyi who is giving a concert with Miklós Perényi and Ádám Banda on the 3th February.

The ten students receiving the scholarship of The Bank of China, sponsor of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, were handed over their grant certificates in the Grand Hall at the Award Gala on 21 January.

The soundtrack of the short film by Kristóf Deák was composed by a member of the academic staff of the Liszt Academy, Ádám Balázs, while Ákos Lustyik, former student of the same institution, acted as his assistant during the working process.

Violinists under the age of 30 have until 26 March to register for the international violin competition being arranged in autumn 2017. The organizers are also looking forward to receiving applications for the associated musicology symposium.

This essay had been written by President of Bard College Conservatory, well-known musicologist and conductor, Leon Botstein on Bartók's influence on 20th century music.

Applications for the Bartók World Competition & Festival – International Violin Competition 2017 may be submitted as latest by 26 March. Early Birds uploading their application material before 15 February are entitled to a 50% discount from the application fee.

For many years now, Opera Exam Festival recitals have ranked among the most exciting of the Liszt Academy’s programmes in January. We spoke with András Almási-Tóth, head of the Liszt Academy Opera Programme, about the objectives and opportunities of the series as well as the performers and what it takes to direct an opera.

In the first weeks of 2017, soloists and ensembles of worldwide acclaim are coming to perform on the stage of the Liszt Academy, such as Viktoria Mullova, Leszek Możdżer, Jason Moran, Cyprien Katsaris, the Holland Baroque Society and the London Sinfonietta.

She is one of the most multifaceted violinists of our day: she plays Baroque on a period instrument, the great Romantic and 20th century repertoire on a modern violin, yet she is also open to folk music and jazz. Viktoria Mullova was born in the Soviet Union but defected at the age of 23, since when she has lived in the West. She arrives at the Liszt Academy with a Baroque programme, although in her interview with Concert Magazine the subject matter extended far beyond this: from her childhood, fears and joint projects with her jazz musician husband, to practical matters concerning playing the violin.