The young trumpeter hailed as the successor to Maurice André and the most acclaimed Hungarian coloratura soprano, Ingrid Kertesi invite lovers of Baroque music to a very special concert.

The pianist appearing together with the excellent quartet learnt the language of Bartók from his father. On this occasion he will hold a conversation on Brahms with the Kodály Quartet.

The Hungarian Radio Choir was formed in 1950. The ensembles conductors have been Endre Székely, Darázs Árpád, Zoltán Vásárhelyi, Cecília Vajda, Imre Csenki, Ferenc Sapszon and Péter Erdei. Since 1992 their choirmaster has been Kálmán Strausz. The repertoire of the Hungarian Radio Choir encompasses all areas of choral music including opera and oratorio in addition to operetta and musicals. Classical and contemporary composers play a great role in the work of the choir. In 1985, the choir’s work was recognised with the Bartók-Pásztory prize. During its existence, the choir has worked with virtually the major world conductors: Antal Doráti, János Ferencsik, Lovro von Matačič, Kurt Masur, Paul Sacher, Peter Schreier, Eric Ericson, Yehudi Menuhin, Lamberto Gardelli, Tamás Vásáry, Giuseppe Patané and Marcello Viotti have all conducted the orchestra. In 2003-2004, the choir enjoyed a very successful tour of Transylvania and Slovakia.

Kálmán Strausz graduated from the Budapest Franz Liszt Music Academy where he studied with Zoltán Vásárhelyi and István Párkai. In 1974 he joined Hungarian Radio as an editor and from 1977 worked as the conductor of the Budapest Youth Choir and leader of the classical music department of Hungarian Television. He was artistic director of the Debrecen Kodály Choir between 1984 and 1991. He has won many competitions with his choirs; he has made records and television and radio recordings. He is a founder of the biannual Budapest InterNational Choir Competition and its artistic director. He is regularly asked to sit on juries at interNational Choir competitions (Debrecen Béla Bartók Choir Competition, the Stuttgart German Choir Competition, the Lawton University Singing Competition.) He has been a guest conductor in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Israel, Japan and the United States. In April 1999, he was asked to rehearse the singers for a production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller in Barcelona. Since 1992 he has been the chief conductor of the Hungarian Radio Choir. In 1997 he received the Liszt Prize and in 2004, the Lajtha Prize.

In 2007 Márta Sebestyén is celebrating the 33rd year of her career. For this special occasion the Grammy winning singer has invited her most important past and present, Hungarian and foreign artist friends.