Under the mentorship of composer and Liszt Academy lecturer Dániel Dobri, six composition students from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music have successfully completed this year’s festival academy at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris, one of the world’s leading centers for contemporary music innovation, research, and technology.
Representing the Academy at this internationally renowned event were Boglárka Erdős (student of Gergely Barta), Mátyás Papp (student of Máté Bella), Zselyke Tóth and Vendel Vajda (both students of Andrea Szigetvári), who completed their professional training through IRCAM’s educational program, guided by Dobri Dániel. Additionally, Natalie Szende participated as a creator in the In Situ Politopes audiovisual workshop with support from the Ulysses Platform scholarship, while Botond Bardocz attended as an independent student.
Throughout the academy, participants engaged in workshops and lectures led by prominent composers such as Lucia Ronchetti, Mauro Lanza, and Hector Parra, alongside computer music designers, contemporary instrumental performers Matteo Cesarini and Luca Mariani, and leading researchers in the field. They also had the opportunity to present their own works to fellow festival participants and to observe rehearsals by some of the foremost contemporary ensembles in the world, including the Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Orchestre National d’Île de France.
“We can be very proud of our students; they brought great credit to the Liszt Academy and to Hungarian music, spreading its reputation from Paris across the world,” said Dániel Dobri. “One particular highlight was the Paris premiere of an audiovisual piece by our second-year electronic composition student Natalie Szende, which achieved remarkable international success—not only for her but also for Hungarian electronic composition education as a whole.”
Dobri also noted plans to deepen cooperation with IRCAM: “If all goes well, next year we will continue and hopefully expand our collaboration, offering a new group of students the chance to become familiar with one of the strongholds of contemporary music.”
Participation in the IRCAM academy not only provides students with invaluable international experience and fosters their artistic growth, but also strengthens the presence of Hungarian contemporary music on the European music scene.
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