The Liszt Academy of Music successfully concluded a two-week jubilee program marking the 50th anniversary of the Zoltán Kodály Institute of Music Education, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Liszt Academy itself and the 50th anniversary of the International Kodály Society, founded in Kecskemét in 1975.
Held mainly in Kecskemét’s fully renovated Kodály Institute building and the Hírös Agóra Cultural Center, the event series attracted nearly 350 participants from 37 countries. Highlights included an international seminar on teacher training, a scientific symposium reviewing 21st-century applications of the Kodály concept, and the Kodály Art Festival featuring concerts and exhibitions.
Two choirs formed from participants—a 150-member mixed choir and a 40-member women’s choir—performed alongside male soloists and the Kecskemét Symphony Orchestra in the anniversary concert “The Peacock Has Arrived,” conducted by Péter Erdei, Huba Hollókői, and Anna Füri.
A key performance took place on August 7 in the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, attended by Sarolta Péczely Kodály. Works performed included The Peacock Has Ascended, The 114th Geneva Psalm, and the Buda Castle Te Deum. The concert was repeated in Kecskemét the following day to great acclaim.
The program also featured nearly 95 workshops and lectures, including a recital and talk by Balázs Fülei, alumni gatherings, and the exhibition The Many-Faced Kodály – in Black and White showcasing rare portraits and photographs. Notable publications were also released, including Kodály and Dance by Anna Dalos and a historical study of the International Kodály Society by Zsuzsanna Polyák.
Source: Liszt Academy of Music
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