Liszt Academy and its Kodály Institute presented at the Osaka Expo
In the Hungarian pavilion of this year's world fair in the Japanese metropolis, Gábor Csaba, Deputy State Secretary for Cultural Diplomacy as well as Liszt Academy’s vice president Gyula Fekete and Judit Rajk, Director of the Kodály Institute held a presentation.
Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) and the Ministry of Construction and Transport (ÉKM), Hungarian Cultural Thematic Days were held in Osaka, Japan, between 28-30 April. The events were focusing on architecture and design, dance and folk culture and music.
On the third thematic day, entitled Hungarian Harmonies: Enchanted by Hungarian music, Gábor Csaba, Deputy State Secretary for Cultural Diplomacy gave a presentation. The special day dedicated to music concluded with presentations by two professors from the Liszt Academy: Gyula Fekete, Vice-President of Research and International Affairs gave an overview of the activities and international relations at the Liszt Academy, followed by Judit Rajk, Director of the Kodály Institute, who gave an overview of the training and the curriculum at the Kodály Institute and the current application of Kodály-based music education.
The audience included a significant number of heads of Japanese partner institutions and former students of the Liszt Academy. In between the two lectures, interviews with the university’s Japanese students were screened, and cellist Shimizu Yosuke, a graduate student of Csaba Onczay, and two-time winner of the Popper Dávid International Cello Competition, performed excerpts from Zoltán Kodály Op. 8 Sonata for Solo Cello.
The event was an opportunity for Judit Rajk and Gyula Fekete to discuss further international plans and projects of the Liszt Academy and the Kodály Institute with Hungarian government officials and heads of Japanese universities and concert centres.
On the thematic days, world-renowned Japanese artists, including Fujimoto Sou, who designed the House of Music in Budapest, and the architects of the New National Gallery of Budapest, Sejima Kazuyo and Nishizawa Ryue also participated.