Dávid Sárosi wins this year's Rezső Lantos Choral Conducting Competition
On April 7, 2019, the choirmaster competition in memory of Rezső Lantos was organized for the 14th time. Each year, choirmaster students and choirmasters having obtained a degree within the last two years compete before an impartial jury.
The jury was chaired by Merited Artist of Hungary Péter Erdei, winner of the Liszt Prize and the Bartók-Pásztory Prize. Other members of the jury were Ágnes Gerenday, choirmaster of the Budapest Lantos Choir, Chairman of the KÓTA Art Committee, Jos Vranken church musician and festival director, winner of the Pro Cultura Hungarica Prize (Netherlands), and Zsuzsanna Gráf, winner of the Liszt Prize and the Bartók–Pásztory Prize, Merited Artist of Hungary.
The Magnificat Girls Choir (choirmaster: Valéria Szebellédi) took part in the semifinals, and the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir (choirmaster: László Norbert Nemes) participated in the finals.
The first three places were claimed by students of the Liszt Academy, and the winners of the special prizes were also students of the Academy. The first prize, offered by the Lantos Rezső Foundation was awarded to Dávid Sárosi sophomore BA student of the orchestra and choirmaster department. The second prize, offered by the Liszt Academy Foundation was awarded to Tamás Szarka, freshman MA choirmaster student. The third prize (a scholarship offered by the Foundation for the Kecskemét Kodály Institute) was claimed by 4th year music theory/choirmaster student István Márkus, who also won the Audience Award offered by the Budapest Lantos Choir. The special prize offered by Kontrapunkt Publishing was awarded to Mátyás Mészáros freshman MA choirmaster student. The special prize offered by the Hungarian Kodály Society and Capella Silentium was claimed by Levente Zsíros third-year BA orchestra and choirmaster student, while the special prize of the Kardos Pál Foundation was awarded to fifth-year music/choirmaster/arts teacher student László Kaczor.
The competition was sponsored by the Liszt Academy Foundation, the Lantos Rezső Foundation, the Foundation for the Kecskemét Kodály Institute, the Hungarian Kodály Society, Kontrapunkt Kiadó, the Kardos Pál Foundation, the Budapest Lantos Choir, Capella Silentium, and Liszt Prize winner Péter Ordasi. The Association of Hungarian Choirs, Orchestras and Folk Ensembles (KÓTA) was the co-operating partner of the competition.