The percussion ensemble (members: Károly Bojtos, Aurél Holló, Zoltán Rácz, Zoltán Váczi) takes its name from a Ugandan instrument and since its formation in 1984 has played a prominent role in Hungarian concert life and international festivals. Their concerts feature many 20th century compositions for percussion, in addition to transcriptions of string, keyboard and other works from earlier periods and traditional non-European music (of Africa, Asia, Oceania). The Amadinda group has given numerous world and Hungarian premières and they have worked with Steve Reich, John Cage, and Péter Eötvös. The artistic director is Zoltán Rácz.

Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden
The Brussels pianist Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden appearing with the Orlando Trio began his studies early: he was already a student at the Royal Conservatory at the age of twelve. At the age of sixteen he won the Queen Elisabeth Competition, an event with long traditions. This launched his international career on all continents. He was invited by the world’s leading orchestras, from the Saint Petersburg Symphony to the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The list of his chamber music partners is also impressive: Augustin Dumay, Gérard Caussé, José van Dam, the Melos and Ysaÿe Quartets. Vanden Eynden naturally has the great piano concertos in his repertoire (Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt), as well as duos and trios by Ravel, Grieg, and Brahms and other chamber music pieces. He is now a member of the jury for the same Queen Elisabeth competition that he won in his youth, and is a professor at the Brussels Conservatory.

Orlando Trio (Hiromi Kikuchi – violin, Ken Hakii – viola, István Metz– cello)
The trio is not coming to Budapest for the first time. They appeared in 1999 at the Budapest Autumn Festival in György Kurtág’s academic inaugural concert. The cellist of the chamber group, István Metz was born in Transylvania and earned his diploma at the Bucharest Academy of Music. He perfected his technique at a course held by the Amadeus Quartet. The trio’s predecessor, the Orlando Quartet was formed in 1976 and their name is associated with the chamber music festival held regularly since 1982. The Orlando has undertaken the mission of popularising the chamber music of 20th century composers; their repertoire always includes, among others, works by Alfred Schnittke, András Szőllősy, György Ligeti and Kurtág. It is mainly works of these composers that they play at the various festivals, for example, in Edinburgh, Lucerne, the Wien Modern and the Paris Autumn. Metz, who lives in Holland, is also a chamber music partner of Heinz Holliger, Gidon Kremer, and Heinrich Schiff. He holds master courses all over Europe.

The members of the ensemble met in the United States in 1998 when they were all in Columbus, Ohio as guests of the congress of the International Clarinet Federation. The idea of establishing a clarinet ensemble took shape during their work and rehearsals together. Thanks to József Balogh, who is an excellent composer, improviser and transcriber, the ensemble is able to create its own repertoire. All members of the clarinet family are represented in the ensemble and the transcriptions (some of which have been made into successful records), have shown that this unusual combination of instruments is well suited for both the classical repertoire and light music.
Members of the ensemble:
Norbert Täubl. Studied at the Vienna College under the direction of Peter Schmidl. Since 1980 he has been a clarinetist with the Staatsoper and the Vienna Philharmonics. He is a member of the Vienna Wind Octet and the Vienna Kammerensemble. Since 1995 he has been a soloist of the Vienna Philharmonics, and since 1999 a member of the Ensemble Wien-Berlin.
József Balogh. Graduated from the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He was at first solo, clarinetist of the Opera House and then soloist of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. He has been guest professor at various American universities. Since 1994 he has been president of the Hungarian Clarinet Society.
Harald Harrer. Studied at the College in Munich under Gerhard Starke. He has played in a number of German orchestras; currently he is clarinet professor of the Nürnberg-Augsburg College of Music.
Johannes Gleichweit. Studied at Oberschützen and then in Vienna. A member of the ORF Symphony Orchestra from 1993, and from 1996 soloist of the Vienna Radio Orchestra.
Manfred Preis. Studied at the College in Munich, then in the Karajan Institute, Berlin. From 1980 he was a member of the Deutsches Symphonieorchester, from 1982 a member of the Berlin Philharmonics. He teaches at the Nürnberg-Augsburg College.

Compañía Nacional de Danza 2
The Spanish National Dance Company (Compañía Nacional de Danza - CND), like the Netherlands Dance Theatre, has set up its own youth company. CND 2 was formed in the autumn of 1999 at the initiative of Nacho Duato, the famous Spanish choreographer, who is also the artistic director of both CND and CND 2. CND 2 has set itself the aim of providing training for the young generation of dancers, acting as a bridge between ballet schools and conservatoires, and professional companies like CND. The director of the youth company – Duato and his assistant Tony Fabre, a former CND dancer – have built up a high standard repertoire, most of it Duato’s own creations but also including a number of works by promising young choreographers. This colourful variety combined with insistence on his standards gives the young artists an opportunity to become more closely acquainted with the latest trends in dance. CND 2, characterised by freshness and elegance, is an artistic undertaking which places great emphasis on the potential young dance audience of the future by offering novelties.

Nacho Duato
The artistic director of CND 2 was born in Valencia and began dance studies at the age of eighteen with the famous Rambert Dance Company in London. Later he refined his skills in Maurice Béjart’s Mudra School in Brussels, then with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre in New York. His first company was the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm which he joined in 1980. Two years later he joined the Netherlands Dance Theatre (NDT) at the invitation of Jirí Kylián. In the early eighties he shifted his attention from dance to choreography: his first big recognition came in 1983 when his creation, Jardí Tancat won first prize at the Internationaler Choreographischer Wettbewerb (International Choreography Workshop). In 1988 Duato was appointed permanent choreographer of the NDT– together with Hans van Manen and Jirí Kylián. His creations have been added to the repertoires of the world’s leading dance companies and performed by such ensembles as the Cullberg Ballet, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Deutsche Oper Ballet of Berlin, Ballet Gulbenkian, San Francisco Ballet, the English Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. His works have won many prestigious prizes. Since 1990 Nacho Duato has been the artistic director of the Compañía Nacional de Danza, the leading dance ensemble in Spain.

Pál Ábrahám’s deservedly popular operetta is set in Nice. The Faublais have just arrived home from their honeymoon. Marquis Aristide de Faublais and his wife, the beautiful Madeleine still adore each other after their lengthy honeymoon. But … the husband’s rather stormy past suddenly intervenes, in the person of the Argentine dancer, La Tangolita. When he broke off their relationship the marquis had given the dancer a blank cheque for a night together which she could cash at any time. And Tangolita wishes to settle this debt at the grand ball in the Savoy Hotel. Madeleine is suspicious and also appears at the ball, disguised as an easy-living temptress. And to make things even more complicated, Daisy Parker, Madeleine’s girlfriend, a successful composer who has just arrived from America, and the marquis’ friend, Mustafa Bey, attaché of the Turkish Embassy in Paris, become involved as well. Of course, this charming, amusing story is just a pretext for Ábrahám’s sensational evergreen melodies, for the actors to sing and dance and display their talents in the excellent roles.