Europe's most talented young musicians will give twenty-five free chamber music concerts in Kecskemét from November 5 to 8. The student musicians from the Budapest Festival Orchestra will give concerts in schools, hospitals and nursing homes, and will also perform in a post office, a hotel and a factory.
The first academic year of the European Orchestra Academy (EOA) kicked off in September, with 16 talented young musicians from 12 countries. The Budapest Festival Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) established the institution in June, at the initiative of Iván Fischer.
The conductor aims for the EOA to serve as an academy where future leading figures in orchestra receive training not only in orchestral and chamber music, but also in social responsibility towards the communities they serve. During their one or two years of training, students of the academy visit a number of EU member states to give chamber music concerts in schools, hospitals and nursing homes - bringing music closer to those who otherwise may not make it to concert halls. The series kicks off in Kecskemét, Hungary, where students of the academy will be joined by a number of BFO musicians as they give their first free community concerts in the historic city between November 5 and 8.
They will visit and give brief chamber music concerts at the city’s educational and cultural institutions, including the Kecskemét Zoltán Kodály Elementary School, High School, Vocational School and Elementary Artistic School for Music and Song; the Kecskemét EGYMI Autism Center Preschool, Elementary School, Skills Development School and Developmental-Educational School; as well as the József Katona Library. They will also share the joy of music with ill and elderly persons, visiting the Bács-Kiskun County Teaching Hospital and the Margaréta Home for the Elderly. There will also be concerts at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Kecskemét, the hotel Four Points by Sheraton Kecskemét and Café Plázs. The line-up for the free mini concerts will draw from a wide range of pieces in music history, from Corelli to Mozart, Schubert, Bruckner, Puccini and Bartók. Three of the EOA students’ performances in Kecskemét will be open to the public. Visitors are welcome to join the musicians at the central post office in Kálvin Square at 10:30 a.m. on November 5; at the same time in the atrium of the County Hospital; at the Cifra Palota at 12 noon on November 6; and at Café Plázs on November 8, at 1:00 p.m.
The series of community concerts is supported by AutoWallis. The leading automobile retailer in the Central and Eastern European region, the company made a commitment two years ago to the BFO Talent Search program and now is providing vans and drivers for the concerts in Kecskemét, so that the five chamber music ensembles can make it to the various venues on time.
