The 2025/2026 Cziffra Festival season will feature uniquely curated concerts and exhibitions with renowned international and Hungarian performers in cities including New York, Rome, Brussels, Budapest, and Miskolc, the organizers announced.
A highlight will be the Hommage à Cziffra 104 concert on November 5 at Müpa Budapest, marking world-famous pianist György Cziffra’s birthday with José Cura, Erika Miklósa, and János Balázs, blending opera, Latin, and Hungarian music.
Festival founder and pianist János Balázs has been invited to Brussels and Rome to perform at the 45th anniversary celebration of the Hungarian Chapel in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, and later at Carnegie Hall in New York with works by Cziffra, Liszt, Chopin, and contemporary Hungarian composers.
Concerts will also be held in Budapest’s 13th district, Budafok, and Miskolc (northeastern Hungary).
February will feature an intensive two-week program in Budapest, including a new two-part series, Champions League, where leading jazz, folk, and classical musicians collaborate.
Notable participants include Kálmán Balogh, Mónika Lakatos, Kristóf Baráti, and Gábor Boldoczki.
Other highlights include the new show Love at First Sight with Franciska Törőcsik, János Lackfi, and János Balázs, the return of Meeting of Worlds, and Rhapsody Essence on February 13, featuring Liszt and Gershwin with Concerto Budapest, conducted by András Keller.
On May 8, János Balázs and the Keller Quartet will perform Strauss and Schubert transcriptions. International guests include French pianist David Fray in February and violinist Leonidas Kavakos with pianist Enrico Pace in May.
Additional events include a concert of 20th-century Italian music by flutist Tomasso Benciolini and Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra, traditional programs like the National Bar Piano Competition series, and the “Bárest” evenings celebrating 1920s–30s music.
Over the past ten years, the Focus on Young Artists series has become a prominent forum for talented young artists to showcase their work, offering audiences several opportunities throughout the season to meet up-and-coming Hungarian artists. The Cziffra Festival awards, presented in six categories, also serve to recognize talent and musical excellence.
New educational and family-friendly productions include A Different Kind of Animal Carnival, performed in multiple cities with János Lackfi and János Balázs, and an improvisational evening in Kecskemét. An organ-piano concert series with Szabolcs Szamosi will tour churches in Pécs (southern Hungary), Budapest, Debrecen (northeast), and Szeged (southeast).
Full details are available on the official website of the festival.
Related article
Exhibition to Pay Tribute to World-famous Pianist György Cziffra
The exhibition will present the musician’s eventful life, his unique personality and his genius, blessed with dazzling improvisational skills.Continue reading
Via MTI, Featured image: Wikimedia Commons
The post Cziffra Festival Returns with New York, Rome, Brussels on the Program appeared first on Hungary Today.
Source link
