A fragrant flower or a set of pipes? The Hungarian word ‘orgona’ simultaneously means both lilac and pipe organ. Is there any semantic relation between the two meanings, or is just a mere linguistic coincidence? We investigated the history of the word ‘orgona’ with the help of etymologist Adrienne Dömötör.

Schumann’s piano chamber pieces are performed at the six concerts of the Complete Works Live series in the spring of 2019. Robert Schumann’s art has always been especially close to my heart – says Liszt Prize-winning pianist Dénes Várjon, who is the art director of the concert series.

What kind of instrument is an organ (organon, organum)? How does it work, and how does it look like? There is no short answer to these questions. On the one hand, organ has no clearly definable size or shape; during its long history the name designated many kind of instruments from hydraulic organs with a dozen pipes to a concert organ with seven manuals and thousands of pipes which can be regarded as a world record of its kind. On the other hand, the way of sounding or the size of the keys also varied over the centuries. By the time the pipe organ of the Academy of Music, one of the most modern instrument of its age, was installed at the Grand Hall, the organ had changed as much as it could throughout its long journey across the past two thousand years.

We would like to kindly inform you that the ticket office of the Liszt Academy is open and the guided tours of the building are available during the holiday season except on 24, 25 and 26 December.

Dániel Dobos came first with a piano composition, in an international field of over two-hundred composers.

The piano pieces of two Hungarian composers are among the international finalist entries that have been selected to be performed on 25 November from over two hundred submissions.

The American violinist, a resident of Hungary for the past two years, started teaching at the Liszt Academy this semester. In addition, he participates in Hungarian music life as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. We asked him about his goals in teaching as well as the challenges of sharing knowledge in the 21st century.