On Monday I am starting the rehearsals for two big projects with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (MR Symphony). On September 21 the orchestra opens its 70th Anniversary Season at the Palace of the Arts in Budapest with the following program:
Liszt: Les Preludes
Chopin: Piano Concerto #2 [Gergely Boganyi -piano]
Dohnanyi: Symphonic Minutes
Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5

This program is the exact replica of the very first public concert of the orchestra on October 7, 1943 conducted by Ernst von Dohnanyi himself. This concert kicks off our 70th season celebration with many exciting concerts and projects. More info here:
http://mrze.hu

Two concerts are coming up the week after our season opening concert. We’ll be playing 8 brand new compositions in two concerts (chamber orchestra and full orchestra), one at Budapest Music Center (my first time conducting in this amazing new chamber music hall) on Sept 25, the other one a day later at the Palace of the Arts. After the concerts the final committee (including myself) will decide about the prize winner compositions. I got to tell you that it is going to be a difficult decision. The quality of the 8 pieces in the finals are very high and every one of them represent a very unique, personal voice. Just as a teaser: one piece is for “pianist” and orchestra, where the soloist only plays one chord at the end of the piece. Another composition employes a rapper alongside with the symphony orchestra.
This year’s New Hungarian Music Forum competition is dedicated to the great Gyorgy Ligeti. Check out the details here:
http://bmc.hu

All concerts mentioned above can be heard live thanks to the Hungarian Radio. They are also available online live or after the performance for another two weeks at radio.hu