The Fresh Art competition is an initiative that aims to give an opportunity to young artists to showcase their work and also to encourage new works of art to be born. In its third year running the organisers have decided to expand the scope of the initiative so in 2009 next to the city of Debrecen now Nagyvárad awaits the best works of fine art from their regional talents under 35 years of age. The Hungarian Cultural Centre invited the some of the price-winning works of the last three years to début in front of the London audiences. These emerging artists exhibit an eclectic selection of pieces ranging from paintings through sculpture to photography; their youthful and fresh approach to the world tells the story of the region and the times they live in.
A selection of works by: Ábel Kónya, Henrietta Szabó, Richárd Juha, Panna Tolvaj, Tarasie Daniel Iosif, Attila Csiszer, Éva Ludman
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» Vilmos Gryllus
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Royal Grammar School Guildford
Concert for children (from 11 am) and for adults (from 8 pm)
organised by the Hungarian Cultural Group
In a career spanning forty years, the musician Vilmos Gryllus has performed both as a soloist and also as a founder member of the group Kaláka, with whom he won the prestigious Kossuth prize for services to Hungarian culture in 2000. His solo work includes the composition of songs for children, many of which can now be found in many school and nursery music books.
A fancy dress party comes alive during Vilmos Gryllus’ performance. The introduction is followed by a whole wardrobe of “costume songs”: a magician, a witch, a caveman, a clown, a chimney sweep, an Arab, a knight in armor and a seven-headed dragon. The songs are all especially suited for children to sing with their parents, making Maszkabál one of Vilmos Gryllus' most cheerful albums to date.Children are invited to wear fancy dress to the concert, after which there will be an opportunity for autographs and to buy CDs.
The evening concert will feature folk song arrangements for guitar and voice,
plus settings of verse by some of Hungary's most famous poets, including Ady Endre, Babits Mihály, József Attila, Kányádi Sándor, Nemes Nagy Ágnes and Kiss Anna.
For more information, please contact Maria Chambers, Chairman
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» Monday Music Soirees - Arion Quartet
Monday, 8 March 2010 7.30pm
Hungarian Cultural Centre
The Arion Quartet was formed in October 2007 and consists of four undergraduate students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. A truly cosmopolitan ensemble, the quartet represents four different nationalities which thrive in working together to make music.
Gergely Horvath (violin) is playing on a violin by Clement, Paris 1816, sponsored by the Sir John Barbirolli Foundation.
Rachel Spencer (violin) started playing at the age of six, and also enjoys singing and has recently been appointed Soprano 1 Section Leader for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.
Gabriella Gémesi (violin) started to play the violin at the age of 7. She graduated as a violinist at the Music Academy of Szeged in Hungary in 2008, and also she started to play the viola this year.
Marianne Diessner (cello) grew up in Leipzig, Germany, and started playing the cello when she was ten. In June 2009, she won the Ian D. Watt competition for string players at the RSAMD.
Within the RSAMD the quartet make regular appearances at string department concerts and competitions, as well as performances in collaboration with other musical departments.
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» New Order – An Anthology of Post ’89 Hungarian Poetry
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 7.00pm
Hungarian Cultural Centre
The Hungarian Cultural Centre commemorates 15 March, the Hungarian National
Day by launching the latest anthology of Hungarian contemporary poetry, which is published by Arc Publishing.
This is the first major gathering of the younger poets of Hungary, witnesses to the poetics of the new post 1989 Europe. The poetics are still in the making but important poets appear and develop. They are writers whose mature work has been produced in the new social, psychological and political circumstances and they include major poets, such as Anna T. Szabó and Krisztina Tóth, János Térey and András Gerevich. The translators are chiefly poets of the same generation Owen Sheers, Anthony Dunn, Claire Pollard, Matthew Hollis and Ágnes Lehóczky.
The Anthology has been edited by George Szirtes, the renowned poet and translator. Come and meet some of Hungary’s most celebrated young poets at the book launch of New Order – An Anthology of Post ‘89 Hungarian Poetry.
Free. For reservations, please call 020 7240 6162 or e-mail
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» Pile-up (Koccanás) by Ferenc Török
Thursday, 18 March 2010 7.00pm
Hungarian Cultural Centre
A bleak crossroads somewhere in Hungary, Eastern Europe, or anywhere in the world. Amidst the usual noisy, busy morning traffic there is a sudden big bang and a clash which brings everything to halt. At the crossroads typical present-day Hungarian – and non-Hungarian – characters band together are ranging from a homeless person to a millionaire, from entrepreneur to manager, from clerk to police officer, from a retired couple to young lovers. Based on György Spiró’s novel of the same title.
Director, screenwriter Ferenc Török is a prominent figure in the young generation of Hungarian filmmakers. He was born in Budapest, in 1971. After graduating from the Academy of Drama and Film in film directing in 2000 – and having made a number of successful short films - he made his first feature film, Moscow Square (2001). It became one of the most important cult films in Hungary after the change of regime. and was screened at many international film festivals. His second feature, Eastern Sugar (2004), had its international premier at the 57th Locarno IFF, and has travelled widely ever since. His latest feature – the third part of a loose trilogy about the winners and losers of the change in regime - Overnight (2007) was his first feature produced in a European co-production (Hungary-Germany). It premiered at the 56th Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF in competition. In 2008, he received Béla Balázs Award a state recognition for outstanding achievement in filmmaking. Member of the European Film Academy.
Free. For reservations, please call 020 7240 6162 or e-mail
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» Concert of the Winners of the 1st Youth Chamber Music Festival in Budapest
Sunday, 21 March 2010 16:30
Hungarian Cultural Centre
Come and enjoy pieces by Händle, Chopin and Shostakovic among others performed by the youngest talents from Budapest. All musicians are under the age of thirteen, yet Balázs Dolfin, Gergely Devich, Bence Temesvári, Henrik Ernő Papp, Krisztina Kocsis have already won several awards nationally and internationally. Their coaches Zsuzsanna Antók and Mrs Dr Adél Kiss Domjan will be accompanying them on their London debute.
Coach:
Zsuzsanna Antók (Balázs Dolfin, Henrik Papp, Bence Temesvári, Gergely Devich)
Born in 1933 in Budapest, Hungary, Endre lived on the Mediterranean island of Malta between the age of two and fourteen. Since 1949 he has been resident in England. Endre studied architecture and fine art before becoming a museum and art gallery curator. His work is distinctive and instantly recognisable, a valuable attribute few contemporary painters manage to achieve. Influences from his Hungarian origins and his early life in Malta are clearly visible in his work. His images draw upon his wide knowledge and fundamental understanding of art, a personal use of colour, a sense of decoration, and careful composition. Always figurative, his work can be from observation or imagination and mostly of female figures in wondrous interior or landscape settings. Endre's magic is in his ability to capture the vulnerability, innocence and grace of women, whilst enlivening their characters with an intriguing deep sensuality. His woman fascinate, as it appears that they can not quite be grasped. They sit a gentle distance from
the onlooker, never quite meeting the eye. In 1988 Endre became a full time painter, and he draws much inspiration from Balthus and Kirchner, as well as Victorian portrait photography. His work can be found in public and private art collections all over the world.
Free. For reservations, please call 020 72406162 or e-mail
