Eötvös Art Ensemble

The artistic director of the Bartók Choir and University Concert Orchestra of the Eötvös Loránd University is László Kovács, conductor and Liszt Prize laureate, director of the ELTE ‘Eötvös’ Art Ensemble. The university choir and orchestra are an amateur ensemble comprising current and former students and teachers. Their repertoire spans Baroque, classical, Romantic and contemporary works, a cappella choral works, oratorios, concertos and symphonies, although they are happy to stray into the border zones of pop and classical music as well. They consider their mission the interpretation of works by major composers of the 20th century including Bartók and Kodály, but their concert repertoire also numbers many pieces by contemporary, primarily Hungarian artists. György Orbán, Péter Tóth, Sándor Szokolay, Emil Petrovics, Kamilló Lendvay, Zoltán Jeney, Miklós Kocsár, László Dubrovay, János Vajda, Levente Gyöngyösi, Kálmán Oláh and Zoltán Kovács have all written orchestral and choral works, some commissioned by the university and dedicated to the ensemble and their conductors. They participate in the Budapest Spring Festival, chamber music festivals, the Tiszazug Music Festival, jointly with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, at the annual concert series Master and Student, the Tihany Benedictine Abbey series, as well as other events designed to promote classical music. The choir established by Gábor Baross in 1948 and the orchestra established in 1957 (currently functioning as a string chamber ensemble) have won prizes and awards at dozens of international competitions in Hungary and abroad over the past decades.