I have been a founding member of the Hungarian National Choir for nearly 40 years, and am proud to say that I have spent my entire career in this choir and in the choirs of its predecessors, the Hungarian State Choir and the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble. As a singer, a choir artist is not just a job, but it a profession, a love, a way of life. Music is part of our everyday lives, and it makes us among the few people who can afford to make their greatest passion both their work and hobby.
On the occasion of our national holiday on 15 March 2023, I was honoured to receive the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit state award, in recognition of my more than 40-year career as a singer.
I would like to gratefully thank the Hungarian National Philharmonic, my dear vocal coach, my colleagues and my family and friends for their encouragement and support!
In 1982, at the age of twenty, I was admitted to the Choir, where, under the wing of conductor Miklós Pászti, I learned the ins and outs of the profession, but it is only by chance and a surprising twist of fate that I have been a member of the Hungarian National Choir for so many years. In addition to fate, of course, it took the powerful intervention and fantastic professionalism of my excellent singing teacher to harness my talents and skills to become a vocal artist.
In the first year after admission, I sang a solo at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, which was probably one of the most defining moments of my life. This was later followed by numerous solo opportunities from Weimar to Paris and Tokyo, now with the Hungarian National Choir led by fantastic conductors such as Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Zoltán Kocsis, Mátyás Antal, János Kovács and László Kovács. The works include: Mozart (Requiem), Berlioz (The Damnation of Faust), Beethoven (Missa Solemnis), Verdi (Quattro Pezzi Sacri), Mascagni (Cavalleria rusticana ), Fauré (Requiem), Kodály (The Spinning Room). Of course, I have also been a regular soloist at the National Philharmonic Orchestra’s Open Rehearsal Room events. I have often worked as an assistant in productions of other choirs, such as the Hungarian Radio Choir (choir director: Zoltán Pad), the Budapest Tomkins Choir (artistic director: János Dobra) and the St. Ephrem Male Choir (artistic director: Tamás Bubnó).
I can safely say that one of life’s greatest gifts to me is to have had such meaningful and eventful professional years as an artist with the Hungarian National Choir.
