László Dobszay’s life and work are honoured with a series of presentations and concerts given by the great Széchenyi Prize-winning music historian, folk music researcher, choral conductor and academic’s colleagues, students and family-members. The Head of the Church Music Department of the Liszt Academy, Ágnes Dobszay talked about the symposium held on 3 February.

The globally recognised violinist Salvatore Accardo visited the Liszt Academy twice this year: most recently, this autumn, last as leader of the Quartetto Accardo, while some weeks earlier he was here as chair of the jury at the Bartók World Competition and Festival. As one the most celebrated violin virtuosos of our time – and someone considered to be the most authentic interpreter of Niccoló Paganini’s works – Maestro Accardo has been a professor of music for several decades. He holds the opinion that today’s young musicians are in a much more difficult position than their predecessors should they plan to pursue a career in music.

Besides the Hungarian participants, students from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Dutch National Opera Academy will be demonstrating their skills, knowledge and understanding of the opera and of stage performance.

On 16, January, the violist Nils Mönkemeyer will be the Kelemen Quartet’s guest partner within the framework of the concert series At home in the Liszt Academy.

The worldwide celebrated cellist was hailed on his birthday by the leaders of the Liszt Academy and many of his colleagues.

What is the secret of musical success? Is there anything more enigmatic than talent? What is the defining characteristic that enables a musician to enchant his or her audience? We interviewed the Széchenyi Award-winning neuroscientist Professor Tamás Freund, who himself used to play the clarinet and who is still an active choir member, on the discernible yet unfathomable nature of talent.

It is the fifth year that the Opera Exam Festival has been hosted by the Solti Hall at the Liszt Academy. and now the opera exam performances of universities from all over the world are again in the spotlight.

Margit Kaposy, the widely acknowledged music educator turned 90 on 6 December this year. On this occasion, her students and friends surprised her with a very moving birthday celebration to pay tribute to her life, dedication and teaching method with which she accompanied many an opera star right to the stage.

The impact of the oeuvre of Johann Sebastian Bach is so mighty that the literature on the subject would almost certainly fill an entire library. However, while it is well documented that Bach shaped the thinking of generations of composers, it is less well known that Bach has also often been the catalyst behind the formation of musical ensembles, even centuries after his passing. For instance, the 80-year-old Nederlands Kammerkoor, which hails from Utrech, can thank Bach for their foundation, albeit indirectly.

The Reformation Memorial Committee commissioned a ‘Bach cantata’ from Zoltán Jeney on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The new work is performed at the closing concert of the commemorative year, in the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy on 19 December 2017. Zoltán Jeney spoke to us about the composition.