The Quartet Integra was awarded the first prize totalling 12,000 euros at Sunday’s awards ceremony and gala evening of the 2021 Bartók World Competition for string quartets.

The international jury judged that the string quartets competing in Thursday’s semi-finals were so excellent that they allowed more formations than initially planned to take part in Saturday’s final.

The international jury on Wednesday night selected seven quartets, instead of the initially planned six, that will advance to the semi-finals.

The Liszt Academy’s 2021 Bartók World Competition kicked off Monday afternoon with determining the order of performance of participating quartets.

The Liszt Academy is commemorating the 210th birth anniversary of Franz Liszt with the Liszt Birthday Festival, a large-scale programme series held between October 9-22.

Marcel Proust’s grand novel entitled “In Search of Lost Time” is the theme of the Kamara.hu festival, organized by artistic directors Izabella Simon and Dénes Várjon. Géza Anda will be commemorated at the gala event of the festival and separately at the French Institute in September.

Sonja Šarić, first prize winner and audience's choice award winner of the 4th Éva Marton International Singing Competition, says that great friendships have been formed between the performers and she is certain that this victory is a big step in her career.

The Liszt Academy is offering a discount system for its concert series instead of season tickets; the institution will also host a festival commemorating the 210th birth anniversary of its founder, Franz Liszt. This year's Bartók World Competition will feature string quartet ensembles, and the institution has launched a new cooperation with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra under the name “Master Play.”

Sonja Šarić, 31, collected the EUR30,000 First Prize and the audience award at the gala evening of the 4th Éva Marton International Singing Competition organized on Sunday.