A Remembrance of Hungarian composers who perished during the Holocaust in the United Nations
Vilmos Szabadi (violin), Mariann Marczi (piano), Eszter Karasszon (cello) and Dr. Csaba Kutnyánszky vice rector represented Liszt Academy at the New York event.
On 27 January 2016, H.E. Ambassador Katalin Bogyay, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations hosted a concert tributing the lives of Hungarian composers who were murdered during the Holocaust. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his wife, Madam Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek were the guests of honor of the spectacular event.
The concert, held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, was part of the official remembrance ceremony of the United Nations as well as the commemorative events dedicated to Hungary’s Chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
The event “In Memoriam: Hungarian Composers – Victims of the Holocaust” was opened with welcoming remarks by H.E. Mr. Szabolcs Takács, Minister of State for EU Affairs, Chair of IHRA, Ms. Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. In the memory of the late Samuel Pisar, Holocaust Survivor, Special Envoy for Holocaust Education, Judith Pisar, shared with the public some of her husbands` thoughts on Holocaust.
On the request of Ambassador Bogyay, Andrea Vigh, rector of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music generously agreed to contribute to the he evening’s featured concert with world-renowned musicians, professors and students of the institution: . The musicians played pieces by Hungary’s greatest composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, along with the music of composers Lajos Delej, György Justus and Imre Sárossi, who were murdered during the Holocaust.
Agnes Kory, founder and director of the Béla Bartók Centre for Musicianship in London held a talk about the lives of composers of Jewish origin, whose stories still remain largely unknown. Ms. Kory highlighted that Jewish participation was significant in all Hungarian music institutions, and remained so during the 1920s and 1930s despite restrictive laws targeting Hungarians of Jewish origin. She then described the life and work of many talented Jewish composers whose life was cut tragically short by the Holocaust.