Reconnections 2016 – one-week Israeli-Hungarian music workshop closes with concert

The project is arranged alternately in Budapest and Jerusalem, and every year it reveals a new facet of chamber music. More than 20 students and teachers from the two academies meet every February in order to learn, practice and play chamber music together. String chamber music was at the forefront of attention in the 2013-2014 seasons, whereas the focus was on wind chamber music in 2015 and this year. In the first two years the Liszt Academy’s string chamber tradition was represented by Csaba Onczay, András Keller and Péter Kováts from Budapest, and from Jerusalem David Sella, Zvi Carmeli and Lihay Bendayan worked with the ensembles comprising students of both institutions. This year, the chamber groups were tutored by, on the part of the Liszt Academy, Márta Ábrahám, Zsolt Szatmári and Gusztáv Hőna; and from among the teachers of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, in 2015 Eitan Globerson and Menachem Wiesenberg, whereas this year Yaron Rosenthal and Zvi Carmeli were present.

“Music in itself is a fine opportunity, and playing music together represents an even better way for those coming from different countries and cultural backgrounds to build – in the course of this gathering – mutual understanding and bridges of friendship. All this goes beyond personal relationships to have an impact at the supra-national, global level: it wipes away prejudice and xenophobia. These were the goals that inspired us when we launched our common project,” said Ilan Mor, Israeli ambassador to Hungary and the founding father of the programme. The collaboration is a real professional challenge because students and teachers meet each other for the first time at the beginning of the one-week workshop and go on to form the mixed chamber music ensembles. “The process whereby through the rehearsals we finally reach the closing concert is made all the more exciting by the divergent musical and cultural backgrounds,” added Andrea Vigh, Liszt Academy president.

The programme of the closing concert (Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy, 16 February 2016) includes works by Bach, Schubert, Yinam Leef, Beethoven, György Ligeti and Tchaikovsky performed by students of the Budapest and Jerusalem academies under the batons of Barnabás Dukay and Zvi Carmeli. Principal patron of the evening: President of the Republic of Hungary János Áder.

MTI/zeneakademia.hu